B 


DUPLICATE 

To  1.-: 


OCT  t\ 


t  > 

T  I  ON 


ON 

S    L     A    V    E     R     T: 

WITH 

A    PROPOSAL 

FOR    THE 

GRADUAL  ABOLITION  OF  IT, 

IN     THE 

STATE    OF    VIRGINIA. 


BY  ST.  GEORGE  TUCKER, 

1 1 

PROFESSOR    OF    LAW    IN    THE    UVirERSlTT    OP    WILLIAM 

AND    MART,    /*vn    nnw    nv    THK    jrinoFS    OF    Tlty 

GENERAL    COURT,    Iff    VIRGINIA. 


Slavery  not  only  violates  the  Laws  of  Nature,  andof  civil 
Society ,  it  alfo  wounds  the  bejl  Forms  of  Government :  in  a 
Democracy,  where  all  Men  are  equal,  Slavery  is  contrary 
to  the  Spirit  of  the  Conftitution.  MONTESQUIEU. 


PHIL  ADELPHT  A: 
PRINTED  FOR   MATHEW  CAREY, 

No,   1 1 8,  MARKET-STREET. 

1796. 


•  V.P.L 

DUPLICATE 
DEPOSED   OF 


V8T8 

-j 

* 


fcjNDlNQ  ) 

'  'M    fof  9  ^  I 

iBU1 


TO    THE 


General  AJJembly  of  Virginia* 

To  whom  it  belongs  to  decide  upon 
the  expediency  and  practicability  of  a 
plan  for  the  gradual  abolition  of  Slavery 
in  this  commonwealth, 

The  following  pages  are  mod  refpec~b— 
fully  fubmitted  and  infcribed, 

BY  THE  AUTHOR. 

William/burp,  in 

Virginia,  May  20, 1796, 


TO    THE    READER. 

The  following  pages  'form  a  part  of  a 
courfe  of  Lectures  on  Law  and  Police,  deli- 
vered in  the  Univerfety  of  William  and 
Mary,  in  this  commonwealth.  The  Author 
confedering  the  Abolition  of  Slavery  in  this 
State,  as  an  object  of  the  fir  ft  importance, 
not  only  to  our  moral  character  and  d&mefiic 
peace,  but  even  to  our  political  falv  at  ion  ; 
and  being  perfuaded  that  the  accomplifliment 
offo  momentous  and  deferable  an  under- 
taking -will  in  great  meafure  depend  upon 
the  early  adoption  of  fame  plan  for  that 
purpofe,  with  diffidence  Jub?rdts  to  the  con- 
federation of  his  countrymen  his  ideas  on  a 
fubjed  of  fuch  confequcnce.  He  flatters 
himfelf  that  the  plan  he  ventures  to  Jiiggcji, 
is  liable  to  fewer  objections  than  mofl  others 
that  have  been  j'ubmitted  to  the  confederation 
of  the  public,  as  it  will  be  attended  with  a 
gradual  change  of  condition  in  the  blacks, 
and  cannot  pofjibly  affect  the  inter  eft  either  of 
creditors,  or  any  other  defer  iption  of  per- 
fons  of  the  prefent  generation  :  and  pofec- 
rity  he  makes  no  doubt  will  feel  themselves 
relieved  from  a  perilous  and  grievous  burden 
ly  the  timely  adoption  of  a  plan,  whofc  ope- 
ration may  be  felt  by  them,  before  tJiey  are 
borne  down  by  a  weight  which  threatens  dc- 
ftruttion  to  our  happinejs  both  public  and 
private. 


/"  The  following  ADDIT TONAL  NOTES  have  bees 
received  from  the  Author  fince  the  body  of  this 
work  was  printed  off* 


In  page  20,  after  the  word  arms,  in  line  5,  read  tins  note  : 
This  was  the  cafe  under  the  laws  of  the  ftate ; 
but  the  A&  of  2.  Cong.  c.  33.  for  eflablifhing  an 
uniform  militia  throughout  the  United  States,  feems 
to  have  excluded  all  but  free  white  men  from  bearing 
arms  in  the  militia. 


.70  tie    word    flave,    page   47,  line    14,  add  the  fol- 
lowing note  : 

It  may  not  be  improper  here  to  note,  that  the 
firft  congrefs  of  the  United  States,  at  their  third 
feffion,  Dec.  17939  paffed  an  aft  to  prohibit  the 
carrying  on  the  flave  trade  from  the  United  States  to 
any  foreign  place  or  country  ;  the  provifions  of  which- 
fecm  well  calculated  to  rellrain  the  citizens  of  united 
America  from 'embarking  in  fo  infampus  a  traffick. 


ON    THE 

STATE  OF  SLAVERY  IN  VIRGINIA. 


AN  the  preceding  Enquiry  (a)  into  th£ 
abfolnte  rights  of  the  citizens  of  united 
America,  we  muft  not  be  undcrfcood  :. 
thofe  rights  were  equally  and  univerf 
the  privilege  of  all  the  inhabitant  of  the 
United  States,  or  even  of  all  thoib,  who 
may  challenge  this  land  of  freedom  as 
-their  native  country.  Among  the  ble-Fings 
which  the  Almighty  hath  fhowered  clown 
on  thefe  dates,  there  is  a  large  portion  of 
the  bittereft  draught  that  ever  flowed 
from  the  cup  of  alilitlion,  Whllfl  Ame- 
rica hath  been  the  land  of  promife  to 
xopcans,  and  their  descendants,  it  hath 
been  the  vale  of  death  to  millions  of  the 
wr  e  t  c he  d  fo ns  o f  A  i r  i c  a .  The  ge n i  al  1  i ght 
of  liberty,  which  hath  here  ilione  with  un- 
rivalled luflre  on  the  former,  hath  yielded 
no  comfort  to  the  latter,  but  to  them  hath 
proved  a  pillar  of  darkncls,  whiiri;  it  hath 

(a)  The    fubjccc   cf   a    prtceuing    Le^ure,     with 
v,\,.c;i  tlie  pr6feut  \va;j  munediately  Conne&ed,    \vas, 
An  Enquiry  into  the  Rights  cf  P^i-rons,    as  Citizens 
America. 

B 


conduced  the  former  to  the  more  enviable 
flate  of  human  exiflence .  Whilft  we  were 
offering  up  vovrs  at  the  fhrine  of  Liberty, 
and  facriflcing  hecatombs  upon  her  altars  ; 
v/liliit  v,  e  {wore  irreconcilable  hoflility  to 
her  enemies,  and  hurled  defiance  in  their 
faces  ;  whilli  we  adjured  the  God  of  Hofls 
to  wit-nefs  our  refolution  to  live  free,  or 
die,  and  imprecated  curfes  on  their  heads 
who  ref.ifcci  to  unite  with  us  in  efhiblifhlng 
the  empire  of  freedom  ;  we  were  impofing 
upon  our  fellow  men,  who  differ  in  com- 
plexion from  us,  a  fltwery,  ten  thoufand 
times  more  cruel  than  the  utmoft  extre- 
mity of  thofe  grievances  and  oppreffions, 
of  which  we  complained.  Such  are  the 
hiconfiftenclcs  of  human  nature  ;  fuchthe 
•  ll:idnels  of  thofe  who  pluck  not  the  beam 
out  of  their  own  eyes,  whilfl  they  can  eipy 
a  rrioat,  in  the  eyes  of  their  brother  ; 
ilich  that  partial  fyftem  of  morality  \vhicli 
confines  rights  and  injuries,  to  particular 
complexions  ;  fuch  the  effect  of  that  felf- 
love  which  juftifles,  or  condemns,  not  ac- 
cording to  principle,  but  to  the  agent. 
Had  we  turned  our  eyes  inwardly  when 
we  frtpplicated  the  Father  of  Mercies  to 
aid  the  injured  and  opprefFed  •  when  we 
invoked  the  Author  of  Right eoufnefs  to 
attePc  the  purity  of  our  motives,  and  the 


(  It  ) 

jaitice  of  our  caufe  ;  (b)  and  implored  . 
God  of  Battles  to  aid  our  exertions  in 
defence,   fhould  we  not  have  Itood  nv 
felf  convicted  than  the  contrite  publican  1 
Should  we  not  have  left  our  gift  upon  the 
altar,  that  we  might  be  firft  reconciled  to 
cur  brethren  whom  we  held  in  bond;- 
Should  we  not  have  loofed  their  ciiain:, 
and  broken  their  fetters  ?    Or  if  the  diiii- 
culties  and  dangers  of  fuch  an  experiment 
prohibited  the  attempt  during  the  con- ru!- 
lions  of  a  revolution,  is  it  not  our  duty  to 
embrace  the  firft  moment  of  comtitutional 
health  and  vigour,  to  effectuate  fo  defirable 
an  object,  and  to  remove  from  us  a  fligma, 
with  which  our  enemies  will  never  fail  to 
upbraid    us,    nor  our   confciences  to  re- 
proach us  ?     To  form  a  jult  eftimate  of 
this  obligation,  to  demonftrate  the  incom-r 
pat  ability  of  a  itate  of  flavery  with  the 
principles  of  our  government,   and  of  that 
revolution  upon  which  it  is  founded,   and 
to  elucidate  the  practicability  of  its  total,, 
though  gradual,   abolition,  it  will  be  pro- 
per to  confider  the  nature  of  flavery,  its 
properties,  attendants,   and  consequences 
in  general  ;  its  rife,  progrefs,  and  prcient 

(b)  The  American  ftandard,  at  the  commencement 
of  thofe  hollilities  which  terminated  in  the  revolution, 
had  thefe  words  upon  it — AN  APPEAL  TO  HEAVEN'. 
B2 


fbte  not  only  in  this  commonwealth,  but 
in  fiich  of  our  filler  dates  as  have  cither 
perfected,  or  commenced  the  great  work 
of  Its  extirpation  ;  with  the  means  they 
have  adopted  to  effect  it,  and  thofe  which 
the  circumftances  and  frtuation  of  our 
country  may  render  it  mofi  expedient  for 
us  to  purfue,  for  the  attainment  of  the 
fame  noble  and  important  end.  (c) 
*  Lib.  i.  According  to  Juflinian,  *  the  firft  gene- 
"lt"  2*  ral  divifion  of  perfons,  in  refpect  to  their 


s,  is  into  freemen  and  (laves.  It  is 
equally  the  glory  and  thehappinefs  of  that 
country  from  which  the  citizens  of  the 
United  States  derive  their  origin,  that  the 
traces  of  flavery,  fuch  as  at  prefent  exifts 
in  fcveral  of  the  United  States,  are  there 
utterly  extinguished.  It  is  not  my  defign 
to  enter  into  a  minute  enquiry  whether  it 
ever  had  exigence  there,  ncr  to  compare 
the  fituation  of  villeins,  during  the  exig- 
ence of  pure  villenage,  with  that  of  mo- 
dern domeflic  flaves  .  The  records  of  thofe 
times,  at  lead,  flich  as  have  reached  this 

(c)  The  Author  here  takes  the  liberty  of  making 
his  acknowledgments  to  the  reverend  Jeremiah  Belknap, 
D.  D.  of  Bofton,  and  to  Zephaniah  Swift,  Efq.  re- 
prefentative  in  congrefs  from  Connedicut,  for  their  ob- 
liging communications  ;  he  hath  occafionally  made 
ufe  of  them  in  feveral  parts  of  this  Ledure,  where  lie 
may  have  omitted  referring  to  them. 


(     '3    ) 

quarter  of  the  globe,  are  too  few  to  throw 
a  fatis factory  light  on  the  {ubjeft .  £  alike 
it  that  our  anccHors  migrating  hither 
brought  not  with  them  any  prototype  of 
that  flavery  which  hath  been  eftabliuied 
among  us.  The  firfl  introdu&icn  of  it 
into  Virginia  was  by  the  arrival  of  a  Dutch 
ihip  from  the  eoaft  of  Africa  having  tiucnty 
Negroes  on  board,  who  were  fold  here  in 
the  year  1620.*  In  the  year  1 6  3  8  we  find  *  Stith. 
them  in  MafTachufetts .  (d)  They  were  A 
introduced  into  Connecticut  (boa  after  the 
fettlement  of  that  colony  ;  that  is  to  fay, 
about  the  fame  period,  (c)  Thus  early 
had  our  forefathers  fown  the  feeds  of  an 
evil,  which,  like  a  leprofy,  hath  clefcended 
upon  their  poflerity  with  accumulated  ran- 
cour, vifiting  the  fins  of  the  fathers  upon 
facceeding  generations. — The  climate  of 
the  northern  ftates  lefs  favourable  to  the 
confHtution  of  the  natives  of  Africa,  t  fEr.B 
than  the  fouthern,  proved  alike  unfavour-  Zephan. 
able  to  their  propagation,  and  to  the  in- Swift. 
creafe  of  their  numbers  by  importations. 
As  the  fouthern  colonies  advanced  in  po- 
pulation, not  only  importations  increased 
there,  but  Nature  herfelf,  under  a  climate 
more  congenial  to  the  African  conftitution, 

(J)  Dr.  Belknap's  anfwers  to  St.  G.  T.'s  queries. 
fej  Letter  from  ^ephaaiah  Swift  to  St.  G.  T. 


(  I-t  ) 

aliiilccl  in  multiplying  the  blacks  in  thofe 
parts,  no  leis  than  in  diininifhing  their 
numbers  in  the  more  rigorous  climates  of 
the  north  ;  this  influence  of  climate  more- 
over contributed  extremely  to  increafe  or 
diminim  the  value  of  the  {lave  to  the  pur- 
chafers,  in  the  different  colonies.  White 
labourers,  whofe  constitutions  were  better 
adapted  to  the  fevere  winters  of  the  New 
England  colonies,  were  there  found  to  be 
*  Dr.  Bel- preferable  to  the  Negroes,  *  who,  accui- 

knap.        tomed  to  the  influence  of  an  ardent  fun, 

Zephan. 

Swift.        became  almoft  torpid  in  thofe  countries, 

not  lefs  adapted  to  give  vigour  to  their 
laborious  exercifec,  than  unfavourable  to 
the  multiplication  of  their  fpecies  ;  in 
thofe  colonies,  where  the  winters  were 
not  only  milder,  and  of  fhorter  duration, 
but  fucceeded  by  an  intenfe  fummer  heat, 
as  invigorating  to  the  African,  as  debili- 
tating to  the  European  conftitution,  the 
Negroes  were  not  barely  more  capable  of 
performing  labour  than  the  Europeans,  or 
their  defcendants,  but  the  multiplication 
of  the  fpecies  was  at  lead  equal ;  and, 
where  they  met  with  humane  treatment, 
perhaps  greater  than  among  the  whites. 
The  purchafer  therefore  calculated  not 
upon  the  value  of  the  labour  of  his  Have 
only,  but,  if  a  female,  he  regarded  her 


(     '5    ) 

as  "  the  fruitful  mother  of  an  hundred 
more •:"  and  many  of  theft  un  fortunate 
people  have  there  been  in  this  fete, 
whofe  defendants  even  in  the  compaisof 
two  or  three  generations  have  gone  near 
to  realize  the  calculation. — The  great  in- 
creafe  of  flavery  in  the  fouthern,  in  pro- 
portion to  the  northern  dates  in  the  union, 
is  therefore  not  attributable, /0/<?/j/,  to  the 
effedl  of  fentiment,  but  to  natural  caufes  ; 
as  well  as  thofe  confiderations  of  profit, 
which  have,  perhaps,  an  equal  influence 
over  the  conduct  of  mankind  in  general, 
in  whatever  country,  or  under  whatever 
climate  their  deftiny  hath  placed  them. 
What  elfe  but  confiderations  of  this  na- 
ture could  have  influenced  the  merchants 
of  the  freed  nation,  at  that  time  in  the 
world,  to  embark  in  fo  nefarious  a  traffic, 
•as  that  of  the  human  race,  attended,  as 
African  (lave  trade  has  been,  with 
the  nioft  atrocious  aggravations  of  cru- 
elty, perfidy,  and  intriguer;,  the  objects 
of  which  have  been  the  perpetual  fomen- 
tation of  predatory  and  intcftine  wars'? 
What,  but  fimilar  eofcficferatiofts,  could 
prevail  0:1  the  government  of  the  fame 
country,  even  in  thefe  days,  to  patronize 
a  commerce  fo  diametrically  oppoflro  to 
generally  received  maxims  of  that 


(      16     ) 

government.  It  is  to  the  operation  of 
theie  coniiclerations  in  the  parent  country, 
not  lelo  than  to  their  influence  in  the  co- 
lonies, that  the  rife,  increafe,  and  conti- 
nuance of  uavery  in  thole  Eritiih  colonies 
.which  now  constitute  united  America,  are 
to  be  attributed,  as  I  lhail  endeavour  to 
.(hew  in  the  courfe  of  the  prefent  enquiry. 
•It  is  now  time  to  enquire  into  the  nature 
of -fiavery,  in  general,  and  take  a  view  of 
its  confequenccr.,  and  attendants  in  this 
commonwealth,  in  particular, 
liar-  Slavery,  fays  a  well  informed  writer  * 

-    on  the    fubjecl:,    has  been  attended  with 
caieofNe-  „  V/T, 

£-roe  So-    circuniitances  10  various  in  dinerent  conn- 

Eierfet.  tries^  as  to  ren^cr  it  difficult  to  give  a 
general  dennitlon  of  it.  Juilinian  calls  it 
a  conftltution  of  the  law  of  nations,  by 
which  one  man  Is  madeluljetl  to  another, 

,   .  .,        -contrary  to  nature.  •       Grotius  defcribes 

;•    Li^D.    I.  * 

Tit.  3.  it  to  be  an  obligation  to  fcr\  e  another  for 
:Ct*  2'  .  life,  in  conilderation  of  diet,  and  other 
+  Lib.  2.  common  neceilaries.  t  Dr.  lluthcrforth, 
c.  5.  Scft.  rejecling  this  definition,  informs  us,  that 
~'*  perfect  fiavery  is  an  obligation  to  be  di- 

5  L'b  i  re^ec^  ^7  -"ot^icr  ^  all  one's  .actions.  § 
c.  20.  pa.  Baron  jMonteiquleu  dennes  it  to  be  the 
cliabliilirnent  of  a  right,  which  gives  ore 
man  fuch  a  power  over  another,  as  ren- 
ders him  abiblute  m alter  over  his  life  and 


fortune.*     Thcfe  definitions  appear  not  *  Lib. 
to  embrace  the  fabjecl  fully,  fmce  they  c*  l 
refpedi  the   condition  of  the  flave,  in  re- 
gard to  his  mafler,  only,   and  not  in  re- 
gard to  the  ft  ate,   as  well  as  the  maftcr. 
The  author  lad  mentioned  obferves,  that 
the   constitution  of  a  Slate  may  be  free, 
and  the  Subject  not  fo.    The  fubjeft  free, 
and  not   the   constitution  of  th,;  ihti:e.  t  f  Lib. 
Purfaing  this  idea,  inflcad  of  attempting  c*  l' 
a  general  definition  of  Slavery  ;    I  {hall, 
by  confidering  it  under  a  threefold  afpecr, 
endeavour  to  give  a  juft  idea  of  its  na- 
ture. 

I.  When  a  nation  is,  from  any  external 
caufe,  deprived  of  the  right  of  being  go- 
verned by  its  own  laws,  only,  fuch  a  na- 
tion may  be  conlldered  as  in  a  flate  cf 
political Jlavcry.  Such  is  the  flate  of  con- 
quered countries,  and  generally,  of  colo- 
nies, and  other  dependant  governments. 
Such  was  the  flate  of  united  America  before 
the  revolution.  In  this  cafe  the  perlcni:] 
rights  of  the  fubjecl  may  be  fo  far  fe cured 
by  wholefome  laws,  as  that  the  individual 
may  be  efleemed  free,  whilii:  the  ftate 
is  fubject  to  a  higher  power :  this  ilib- 
jeclion  of  one  nation,  or  people,  to  the 
will  of  another,  constitutes  the  firfl  fpecies 
offlavery,  which,  in  order  to  diflinguifh 
C 


it  fi-o-.TL  -the  other  two,   I  have  call-cci 
litical  ;     inafrrurch  as  it  e:-;i:'i:r,  or-ly  in  re- 
• 

f£rie3.    Of 

r.ot  our  birr^-::>  ::>  r;-y~ai:,    at  j^cil-t. 

Civil  Hbe.  r   ths.fi 

r,.  8r&ift£dfey  Kttoan 

a:>  is  r-eceffary  and 

c   ./•:  ..-/;',.  •,:-    r.,'   1;:-/  -     ndv:-ir.t;  ^e    cvf 

*  E1^-k-   t  Sire,*    v/henevcr  tl::it   liberty  is, 

Coin.  c.     •  rftiie  HT-L-C,  further  rc(b-'i;;;cJ 


:-;\:;_^    fbr  the 

icral  acl\rar.t:;ge^   a  ^-te  of  d<y/7  Jlavcry 
corfi.ir.cn  ces  immediately  :  this  -msy  affc»fl: 
whole  fociety,   and   every  clcfcription 
of  per  ions  in  it,   and  yet  the  constitution 
of  the  ftate  be  perfcclly  free.     And 
happens  wherever  the  laws  of  a  ft  ate  rc- 
ipedl-  the  form,   or  energy  of  the  govern- 
ment, more  than  the  happinefe  of  the  ci- 
tizen ;    as  in  Venice,  where  the  mofc  cr>- 
preiFive  ij^ecics  of  civil  (lavery  exifls,  ex- 
tendino;  to  every  in-dividual  in  the  I! 
from  the  pooreft  gondolier  to  the  iv.  em- 
bers of  the  ienate,   and  the  doge  hlmielf, 
This  ipecies  of  flavery  alio  exius  ^vhen- 
cver  there  is  an  inequality  of  right?.,  or 
pj-'ivileges,  between  the  iubjecls  or  ciii- 
zeDS'  of  the  fame  ft  ate,  except  fuch  as  ne- 
ceflarily  refult  from  the  excrcife  of 


(      19      ; 

v-  ;    for  the 
dais  of  men 

.upo.n  the  ck  ~;    ajud  the 

jcaeailir.e  of  cxaltatio.ii  in  the  former,  is 
that  of  the  fiavery  p£  the  latter.  In  all 
governments,  hov/cvcr  c-  •  cd,  or 

.'.  deicription  foever  denq.nima: 
wherever  the  difancaoii  of  rank  prcv: 
or  is  admitted  ,Uy  th,e  confdtutjon,  I 

of  (lav-cry  exifts.-     It    e:dfced  ia 
ry  nation,   and  in  .every  government 
in  Europe  be  fare  .tlic  French  revolution. 
It  exited    in  the  American  .colonies  be- 
fore they  became  iudq-.  flates  ;  and 
not,                      ;  tiie  maxims  of  .equality 
wlilch  have  i.era  adopted  in  their 
coiitjliitutions,   it  cxifts  in  mcft,   if  not  all, 
of  them.,   at  tlxis  day,   in  taep,erfons  ofoiu- 
free  Negroes  and  mulattoer, ;  whole  civil 
incapacities  r.re  al-moic  \  -:\  ^  the 
civil  rights  of::             •  citizens.     A  brief 
enumeration  of -.fciiem,  -1:1  ay  not  be  hn 
per  be-fore               :eed  to  the  thh'd  in 

Free  .  ilatto.es  are  by  our 

confutation  excluded  from  the  right  <.'• 
fuiTrage,  (f)  and  by  confequence,  I  apprc- 

(f)  The  Conftitution  of  Virginia,  £jt.  7.   d^l 
that  the  right  of  fufFrage  fhal]  remain  as  then  excrc:fc<J : 
the  act  of  1723,  c.  4  (edit.  1733,),  fc6t.  23,  declared, 
'hat  no  Negro.,  muh.lt oe,  or  Indian,  fruill  hav 

C   2 


hend,  from  office  too  :  they  were  for- 
merly incapable  of  ferving  in  the  militia, 
except  as  drummers  or  pioneers,  but  now 
I  prefume  they  are  enrolled  in  the  lifts  of 
thofe  that  bear  arms,  though  formerly 
punimable  for  prcfuming  to  appear  at  a 
*  1723.  mutter-field.  *  During  the  revolution 
war  many  of  them  were  enlifled  as  foldi- 
ers  in  the  regular  army.  Even  flaves 
were  not  rejected  from  military  fervice 
at  that  period,  and  fuch  as  ferved  faith- 
fully during  the  period  of  their  enlifl- 
ment,  were  emancipated  by  an  act  pafTed 
f  OiSt.  after  the  conclufion  of  the  war.  t  An 
1783-  c.  a£.  Q£  ju^.;ce  to  which  they  were  entitled 

upon   every   principle.      All  but  houfe- 

keepers,     and  perfons  refiding  upon  the 

frontiers    are    prohibited   from    keeping, 

or  carrying  any  gun,  powder,  mot,  club, 

J 1 748.  c.  or  other  weapon  offenfive  or  defeniive  :  + 

31.  Edit.  Ref}laanceto  a  white  perfon,  in  any  cafe, 

was,    formerly,    and  now,    in  any  cafe, 

except  a  wanton  aiTau.lt  on  the  Negroe  or 

§  Ib.  c.     mulattoe,     is    punifhable  by  whipping.  § 

103-         No  Negroe  or  mulattoe  can  be  a  witnefs 

vote  at  the  ele&ion  of  burgefles,  or  any  other  election 
\vhatfoever. — -This  a£l,  it  is  prefumed,  was  in  force  at 
the  adoption  of  the  constitution. — The  aft  of  1785, 
c.  55  (edit,  of  1794,  c.  17,),  alfo  exprefsly  exclude* 
them  from  the  right  of  fuffrpge. 


in  any  profecution,  or  civil  fuit -in  which 

a  white  perfon  is  a  party.*     Free  No  *  1794- 

groes  together  with  ilaves  v/ere  formerly  c'  I^1' 

denied  the  benefit  of  clergy  in  cafes  where 

it    was    allowed  to  white  perfons  ;    but 

they  are  now  upon  an  equal  footing  as  to 

the  allowance  of  clergy,  though  not  as  to 

the  confequence  of  that  allowance,  inaf- 

much  as  the  court  may  fuperadd    other 

corporal    punifhments  to  the  burning  in 

the    hand   ufually    inflicted   upon   white 

perfons,  in  the  like  cafes,  t     Emancipated  t  J79-1- 

c.   103. 
Negroes  may  be  fold  to  pay  the  debts  of 

their  former  m after  contracted  before 
their  emancipation  ;  and  they  may  be 
hired  out  to  fatisfy  their  taxes  where  no 
fufficient  diflrefs  can  be  had.  Their  chil- 
dren are  to  be  bound  out  apprentices  by 
the  overfeers  of  the  poor.  Free  Negroes 
have  all  the  advantages  in  capital  cafes, 
which  white  men  are  entitled  to,  except 
a  trial  by  a  jury  of  their  own  complexion  : 
and  a  flave  filing  for  his  freedom  mail 
have  the  fame  privilege.  Free  Negroes 
refiding,  or  employed  to  labour  in  any 
town  muft  be  regiflered  ;  the  fame  thing 
is  required  of  fuch  as  go  at  large  in  any 
county.  The  penalty  in  both  cafes  is  a 
fine  upon  the  perfon  employing,  or  har- 
bouring them,  and  iniprifonment  of  the 


(  g  )- 

*  1794.    Negroe.  *     The  migration  of  free  Ne- 

C'  1  **"  groes  or  -mulattoes  to  this  ftate  is  a.lfo  pro- 
hibited ;  and  thofe  who  do  migrate  hi- 
ther may  be  feiit  back  to  the  place  from 

f  1794.    whence  they  came.  I      Any  perfon,    r.oi. 

c*  I  4*  being  a.  Nog-roe,  having  one-fourth  or 
more  Negro e  blood  in  him  is  deemed  a 
mulattoe.  The  law  makes  no  other  d:f- 
tlndiion  between  Negroes  and  mulattoes, 
whether  flav.es  or  freemen.  Thefe  Inca- 
pacities and  difabilities  are  evidently  the 
-fruit  of  the  third  fpecies  of  flavcry,  of 
which  it  remains  to  fpeak .;  or,  rather, 
they  are  felons  from-  the  fame  common 
flock;  wiiich  is, 

III.  That  condition  in  which  one  man 
is  fiipjedl  to  be  dirc^ed  by  another  in  all 
his  actions  ;  and  this  conilitutes  a  ftate 
of  dor,:c file  /lover y  ;  to  which  ft  ate  .all  the 
incapacities  and  difabiiities  of  civil  ilavery 
are  incident,  with  the  weight  of  other 
numerous  .calamities  fapcraddecl  thereto. 
And  here  it  may  be  proper  to  make  a  fi:ort 
.enquiry  into  the  origin  and  foundation 
of  clcnieftlc  ilavery  in  other  countries, 
previous  to  its  fatal  introdu<£i:ion  into  this. 
Jlr.ft.  lib.  Slaves,  fays  Juilinian,  are  either  born 
i.  tit.  i.  ruc^  Gr  ]  ecomc  fo.  t  They  are  born 
Haves  v;Lcn  they  are  children  of  bond 
women  :  and  thcv  become  {laves,  either 


"7ty  the!awofnatl'-:;-\  t:::-.-:  is ,  hv  :y  ; 

it  is  the  practice  of  our  generals  to 
fell  their   captives,  be:  '  to 

preferve,  and  not  to  dcftroy  them  :  er 
by  the  civil  law,  which  hc-ppciis  when  a 
free  perlbn,  above  the  age  -  :ty, 

faifcrs  himfclf  to  be  Ibid  for  I  '  of 

'rig  the   price   given  for   him.     ': 
author  of  the  Commentaries  o  r.v/s 

of  England  thus   combats  the  reafbnsblc- 

,  of  all  thefe  grounds :  *  "  The  con-  *  Im  b.  c. 
qneror,"  fays  he,  "  according  to  the  cl-  423- 
^  vilians,  had  a  right  to  the  life  of  his 
u  captives  ;  and  having  fparcd  that,  has 
u  a  right  to  deal  with  him  as  lie  pleafes. 
ic  But  it  is  an  untrue  pofition,  v/hcn  taken 
u  generally,  that  by  the  law  of  nature 
"  or  nations,  a  m'an  may  kill  h-s  crcrviy  : 
cc  he  har>  a  right  to  kill'  him  only  in  par- 
cc  ticulr.r  cal^s  ;  in  cafes  of  ablbluiie  nc- 
4C  b  .'fence  ;  and  it 

cc  til  abiblute  ncceiHty  did  ret 

cc   Hx1:,  hncc  the  victor  did  not  actually  kill 
ci  him,    but  made  him  prifo.  *"7af 

4C  i-.  juftiflable  only  on    pri 

^c   ef  ic  ;    and  'therefore  It 

cr  right  over  p;  but 

merely  to    difable    them    iron    do!:^?; 
cc  h.-\T,i  to  us,  by  conflnip;  '.-ns: 

Icfs  can  it  give  a  right  to  1:111, 


tc  torture,  abiife,  plunder,  or  even  to 
44  enflave,  an  enemy,  when  the  war  is  ver. 
44  Since  therefore  the  right  of  inching  (laves 
"  by  captivity,  depends  on  a  fuppofed 
44  right  of  {Laughter,  thr.t  foundation  fail- 
44  ing,  the  ccnfequence  drawn  from  it 
44  mufl  fail  likewife.  But,  fecondly,  it 
44  is  faid  flavery  may  bepn  jure  civili  ; 
"  when  one  man  fells  liimfelf  to  another. 
44  This,  if  only  meant  of  contrafc  to 
44  icrvc,  or  work  for,  another,  is  very 
44  jaft :  but  when  applied  to  flric~t  flavery, 
44  in  the  fenfe  of  the  laws  of  oldR-ome  or 
44  modern  Earbary,  is  alfo  impoilible. 
cc  Every  faie  implies  a  price,  a  quid  pro 
a  quo,  an  equivalent  given  to  the  feller, 
"  in  lieu  of  what  he  transfers  to  the 
44  buyer  ;  but  what  equivalent  can  be 
4C  given  for  life  and  liberty,  both  of 
u  which,  in  abfolute  flavery,  are  held 
44  to  be  in  the  mailer's  diipofal  ?  His 
ec  property,  alfo,  the  very  price  he 
44  fecnis  to  receive,  devolves,  ipjo  fafto^ 
44  to  his  mailer,  the  inflant  he  becomes  a 
44  (lave.  In  this  cafe,  therefore,  the 
44  buyer  gives  nothing,  and  the  feller 
u  receives  nothing  :  of  what  validity 
44  then  can  a  faie  be,  which  defcroys  the 
44  very  principles  upon  which  all  fales 
44  are  founded  ?  Laftly  we  are  told,  that 


Ci  beiides  thefe  two  ways  by  which  Haves 
"  are  acquired,  they  may  alib  be  here- 
ct  ditary  ;  cc  /jrp/  najcuntur  ;"  the  chil- 
u  drcn  of  acquired  (laves  are,  "  jure  na~ 
c  c  turx,"  by  a  negative  kind  of  birthri  ght, 
"  flaves  alia. — But  this^  being  built  on  i/;? 
"  tiuo  former  rights  ^  mufl  fall  together 
c  with  them.  If  neither  captivity,  nor 
"  the  flile  of  one's  felf,  can  by  the  law 
C£  of  nature  and  reafbn  reduce  the  parent 
c;  taflavery,  much  .hjs  can  they  reduce. 
ct  the  cifspring."  Thus  by  tl^s  moll- 
clear,  manly,  and  convincing  reafoning 
does  this  excellent  author  refute  every 
claim  upon  which  the  praclice  of  ilavery 
is  founded,  or  by  which  it  has  been  flip- 
pofed  to  be  juftifleJ,  at  leafl,  in  modern 
times,  (g)  But  were  we  even  to  admit,' 
that  a  captive  taken  in  zjufi  ivar,  might 
by  his  conqueror  be  reduced  to  a  Ra'ce  of 
ilavery,  this  could  not  juitify  the  claim  of 
Europeans  to  reduce  the  natives  of  Africa 
to  that  flate  :  it  is  a  melancholy,  thouoh 
well-loiowii  fad,  that  in  order  to  farnifh 
f applies  of  thele  unhappy  people  for  the 
purpoft-s  of  the  (lave  trade,  the  Europeans 
have  conflantly,  by  the  moil  infid:cus  ([ 
had  almofc  fajd  infernal)  arts,  fomented 

(g)  Thefe  arguments  ars,  in  facl,  borrowed  from 
ffcj  Spirit  of  La\vs. 


(     =  6     ) 

a  kind  of  perpetual  warfare  among  the 
ignorant  and  miserable  people  of  Africa  ; 
and  inflances  have  not  I: ecu  wanting, 
where,  ry  the  mofh  ihameful  breach  of 
.faith,  they  have  trepanned  and  made 
ilaves  of  theyc.7:;v  as  \vell  as  ilicjold.  (It} 

(h)  "  About  the  fame  time   (the  reign  of  queen 

"  Elizabeth)  a   traffic  in  the  human   fpecies,   called 

"  Negroes,    was  introduced  into   England,  which  is 

"  one  of  the  moft  odious  and  unnatural  branches  of 

"  trade  the  fordid  and  avaricious  mind  of  mortals  ever 

"  invented. — It  had  been  carried  on  before  this  period 

"  by  Genoefe   traders,    who  bought   a  patent   from 

"  Charles  the   fifth,  containing  an  exclufive  right  of 

"  carrying  Negroes  from  the  Portuguese  Settlements 

"  in  Africa,   to  America  and  the  Weft  Indies  ;    but 

"  the  Englim  nation  had  not  yet  engaged  in  the  ini- 

¥  quitcus  traffic. — One  William  Hawkins,  an  expert 

'*  Englim  feaman,  having  made  feveral  voyages  to  the 

"  coaft  of  Guinea,  and  from  thence  to  Brazil  and  the 

"  Weft  Indies,  had  acquired  confiderable  knowledge 

*«  of  the  countries.     At  his  death  he  left  his  journals 

"  with  his  fon,  John  Hawkins,  in  which  he  defcribed 

"  the  lands  of  America  and  the  Weft  Indies  as   ex- 

**  ceedingly   rich  and  fertile,  but  utterly  neglected  for 

tf  want  of  hands  to  improve  them.      He  reprefented 

*•*  the  natives  of  Europe  as  unequal  to  the  tafk  in  fuch 

"  a  fcorching  climate  ;    but  thofe  of  Africa  as  well 

"  adapted  to  undergo  the   labours  requifite.      Upon 

"  which  John  Hawkins  immediately  formed  a  defign 

'«  of  tranfporting  Africans  into  the   weftern   world  ; 

"  and  having  drawn  a  plan  for  the  execution  of  it,  he 
"  laid  it  before  fome  of  hi,s  opulent  neighbours  for 


That   fucli   horrid   pra&iccs   have    been 
fan&ioiicd  by  a  civilized  nation  ;  that  a 

"  encouragement  and  approbation.  To  them  it  ap- 
f  '•  peared  promifing  and  advantageous.  A  fubfcripticn 
-'•'  was  opened  and  fpeedily  filled  up,  by  Sir  Lionel 
"  Ducket,  Sir  Thomas  Lodge,  Sir  William  Wintery 
"  and  others,  who  plainly  perceived  the  vaft  profit's 
"  that  would  refult  from  fuch  a  trade.  Accordingly 
"  three  fh'ps  were  fitted  out,  and  manned  by  an  h-uir- 
"  dred  feleel  failors,  whom.  Hawkins  encouraged  'Co 
"  go  with  him  by  promifes  of  good  treatment  and 
"  great  pay.  In  the  year  1562  he  fct  fail  for  Africa", 
"  and  in  a  few  weeks  arrived  at  the  country  called 
<(  Sierra  Leona,  wher.  he  began  his  commerce  with 
<*  the  Negroes.  While  he  trafficked  with  them,  he 
"  found  the  means  of  giving  them  a  charming  defcrip- 
"  tion  of  the  country  to  which  he  was  bound  ;  the 
"  unfufpicious  Africans  liftened  to  him  with  apparent 
*'  joy  and  fatisfaclion,  and  feemcd  remarkably  fond  cf 
"  his  European  trinkets,  food,  and  clothes.  He 
"  pointed  out  to  them  the  barrennefs  of  the  count  rj-, 
"  and  their  naked  and  wretched  condition,  and  prc- 
**  mifed  if  any  of  them  were  \v:-?.ry  of  tlieir  mifcrable 
"  citcumftances,  and  v.-ould  go  along  vrith  lum,  Ke 
"  would  carry  them  to  a  plentiful  land,  where  they 
"  mould  live  happy,  and  receive  an  abundant  rsccripcnre 
"  for  their  labours.  He  told  them  the  country  was 
*'  inhabited  by  fuch  men  as  himfelf  and  h:r>  jovial  com- 

panions,     r.ncl  ajjvrcd  them  of  kind  ofegs  and  great 
friend/hip.      In   fhcit,    the   Njgroes  were  overcome 

by  his   flattering  prcmifes,  and  three  hundred  ftont 

fello\vs  accepted  his  offer,  and  confented  to  embark 
1  along  with  him.      Every  thing  being  fettled  on  the 

mod  amicabl-  terms  between  them,  Hawkins  made 
D    2 


li 


nation  ardent  in  the  caufe  of  liberty,   and 
enjoying  its  bleilings  in  the  fulleft  extent, 

•"  preparations  for  his  voyage.      But  m  the  night  be- 

**  fore  his  departure  his  Negroes  were  attacked  by  a 

"  large  body  from  a  different  quarter;   Hawkins,  being 

*;  alarmed  with  the  fbrieks  and  cries  of  dying  perfons, 

"  ordered  his  men  to  the  affiftance  of  his  -Haves,  and 

-"  having  furrounded  the  affailants,  carried  a  number 

"  of  them  on  board  as  prifoners  of  war.     The  next 

"  day   he   fet   fail  for  -Hifpaniola  with   his  cargo  of 

"  human  creatures  ;  but  during  the  paflh'ge,  he  treated 

"  the  prifoners  of  war  in  a  different  manner  from  his 

A  volunteers.     Upon  his  arrival  he  difpofed  of  his  cargo 

"  to  great  advantage  ;    and  endeavoured  to  inculcate 

"  en  the  Spaniards  who  bought  the  negroes  the  fame 

"  diftin&ion  to  be  obferved  :  but  they  having purchafed 

"  all  at  the  fame  rate^  considered  them  as  flaves  of  the 

"  fame  condition,  and  confequently  treated  all  alike." 

Hawkins  having  returned  to    England,  foon   after 

-made    preparations   for  a  fecond    voyage.     "  In   his 

"  paflage  he  fell  in  with  the    Minion  man    of  war, 

"  which  accompanied   him   to  the  Coaft  of   Africa. 

*'  Arter  his  arrival  he  began  as  formerly  to  traffic  with 

"  the     Negroes,    endeavouring    by    perfuafions     and 

"  profpecls    of  f-cvoartl,  to    induce  them  to    go   along 

<;  w!th-him — but   now  they  were  more  referved  and 

"  jealous  of  his  dci:gns,   and   as  none  of  their  neigh- 

c:  hours  had  returned,  they  were  apprchenfive  he   had 

44  killed  and  cat  them      The  crew  of  the  man  of  war 

"  obfcrving  the  Africans    backward    and    fufpicious, 

"  began  to  laugh  at  his  gentle  and  dilatory  methods  of 

"  proceeding,  and  propofed  having  immediate  recourfe 

*'  to  force  and  compulsion — but   Hawkins  confidered 

"  it  as  cruel  and  v.niuil.  and  tried  by  pcrfuafions,  pro- 


can  continue  to  vindicate  a  right  :eflab- 
lifhed  upon  fuch  a  foundation  ;  that  a  peo- 

'"  inifes  and  threats,  to  prevail  on  them  to  defift  from  a 
"  purpofe  fo  unwarrantable  and  barbarous.  In  vain 
"  did  he  urge  his  authority  and  inftruftions  from  the 
*'  Queen  :  the  bold  and  headilrong  failors  would  hear 
"  of  no  reftraints.  Drunkennefs  and  avarice  are  deaf 
"  to  the  voice  of  humanity.  They  purfue  their  violent 
<{  defign,  and,  after  feveral  unfuccefsful  attacks,  in 
"  which  many  of  them  loft  their  lives,  the  cargo  was 
"  at  length  compleated  by  barbarity  and  force. 

"  Hence  arofe  that  horrid  and  inhuman  practice  of 
"  Dragging  Africans  into  flavery,  which  has  fmce  been 
"  fo  purfued,  in  defiance  of  every  principle  of  juflice 
*'  and  religion.  Had  Negroes  been  brought  from  the 
"  flames,  to  which  in  fome  countries  they  were  devoted 
"  on  their  falling  prifoners  of  war,  and  in  others,  facri- 
"  ficed  at  the  funeral  obfequies  of  the  great  and  pow- 
"  erful  among  themfelves  ;  in  fhort  had  they  by  this 
"  traffic  been  delivered  from  torture  or  death ,  European 
"  merchants  might  have  fome  excufi  to  plead  in  its  vindi- 
"  cation.  But  according  to  the  common  mode  in  which  it 
fi  has  been  candied y  \ve  mufi  confefs  it  a  difficult 
"  matter  to  conceive  nfingle  argument  in  its  defence. 
"  And  though  policy  has  given  countenance  and 
"  fanclion  to  the  trade,  yet  every  candid  and  impartial 
"  man  muft  confefs,  that  it  is  atrocious  and  unjuftifiable 
**  in  every  light  in  which  it  can  be  viewed,  and  turns 
"  merchants  into  a  band  cf  robbers,  and  trade  into 
"  atrocious  acls  of  fraud  and  violence."  Hiftoriccl 
Account  of  South-Carolina  and  Georgia.  A  nonymous. 
London  printed  in  1779 — page  20,  &c. 

"  The  number  of  Negroe  fiaves  bartered  for  in  one 
"  year  (viz.  1 768  ),  on  the  Coaft  of  Africa  from  C~pr 


(     30     ) 

pic  who  have  declared,   "  That  all  men 
Bill  of  -are  by  nature  equally**  free  and  indepen- 
igits,     dcnt»    ancj   }lavc    made  this  declaration 
the  firft  article  in  the  foundation  of  their 
government,  (Iiould  in  defiance  of  fo  fa- 
cred  a  truth,  recognized  by  themfelves  in 
fofolcmn  a  manner,  and  on  fo  important  an 
occafion,  tolerate  a  practice  incompatible 
therewith,    is    fuch  an    evidence   of  the 
weaknefs  and  inconfiftency  of  human  na- 
ture,  as  every  man  who  hath  a  fpark  of 
patriotic   fire  in  his  bofom  jnuft  wifli  to 
fee  removed  from  his  own  country.     If 
ever  there  was  a  caufe,  if  ever  an  occa- 
fion, in  which  all  hearts  fliould  be  united^ 
every  nerve  ftrained,    and  every  power 
exerted,  furely  the  reftoration  of  human 
nature  to  its    inalienable    right  is   fuch: 
Whatever  obftaclcs,    therefore,    may  hi- 
therto have  retarded  the  attempt,   he  that 
can    appreciate    the    honour    and  happi- 
nefs  of  his   country,    will    think  it  time 
that    we    fhould     attempt   to    furmount 
them. 

But  how  loudly  foever  reafon,  juflice, 

"  Blanco,  to  Rio  Congo,  amounted  to  104,000  fouls, 
"  vdierecf  more  than  half  (viz.  53,000)  were  (hipped 
"  on  account  of  Britifh  merchants,  and  6,300  on  the 
"  account  of  Britiih  Americans.'*  The  Law  of  Retri- 
bution by  Granviile  Sharpe,  Efq.  page  147.  note. 


(     3'     ) 

and.  (may  I  not  add)  religion,  (i)  con- 
demn the  practice  of  fiavery,  it  is  ac- 
knowledged to  have  been  very  ancient, 
and  almoft  univerfal.  The  Greeks,  the 
llomans,  and  the  ancient  Germans  dfo 
practifed  it,  as  well  as  the  more  ancient 
jews  and  Egyptians.  By  the  Germans  it 
v/as  tranfmittcd  to  the  various  kingdoms 
which  arofe  in  Europe  out  of  the  ruins  of 
the  Roman  empire.  In  England  itfub- 
fifted  for  fome  ages  under  the  name  of 
villeinage,  (k)  In  Afia  it  feems  to  have 

(i)   See  the  various  tracts  en  this  fubjeft,  by  Gran- 
ville  Sliarpe,  Efq.  of  London. 

(k)  The  condition  of  a  viUzln  had  moft  of  the  inci- 
dents I  have  before  defcribed  in  giving  the  idea  of 
Jiavery,  in  general.  His  fervices  were  uncertain  and 
indeterminate,  fuch  as  his  lord  thought  fit  to  require  ; 
or  as  fome  of  our  ancient  writers  cxprefs  it,  he  knew 
not  in  the  evening  what  he  was 'to  do  in  the  morning, 
be  was  bound  to  do  whatever  he  was  commanded. 
I  TV:  was  liable  to  beating,  iinprifonment,  and  every 
other  chaftifement  his  lord  could  devife,  except  killing 
and  nuimir.£.  Ke  was  incapable  of  acquiring  pro- 
perty for  his  own  benefit  ;  he  was  himfelf  the  fubjecl 
of  property  ;  as  fuch  faleable  and  tranfmifiible.  If 
he  was  a  villein  regardant  he  paffed  with  the  land. to 
which  he  waj  annexed,  but  might  be  fevered  at  the 
will  of  Liu  Lrcl  ;  if  he  was  a  villein  in  grofs,  he  was 
a*.i  hereditament,  or  a  chattel  real,  according  to  his 
lord's  intereft ;  being  defcendible  to  the  heir,  where 
ths  bid  wis  abfolute  owner,  and  tranfmifTible  to  tlie 


(  r-  > 

been-  general,  and  in  Africa  umverial,- 
and  fo  remains  to  this  day:  In  Europe  it 
hath  long  fince  declined  ;  its  firft  declen- 
iiori  there,  is  faid  ta  have  been  in  Spain, 

executor  where  the  lord  had  only  a  term  of  years  in 
h;:n.  LrJlfy,  the  flav'ery  extended  to  the  LTue,  if  the 
father  was  a  villein,  our  law*  deriving  the  condition  of 
the  child  from  that  of  the  father,  contrary  to  the  Re- 
man law,  in  which  the  rule  was,  partus  fequitur  *ucni:trn. 
Hargrave's  Cafe  of  Negroe  Somerfet,  page  26  and  27. 

The  fame  writer  refers  the  cr'g'n  of  vafTalage.iu 
England,  principally  to  the.  wars  between  the  Britifh, 
Saxon;  ZXanifh,  aad' Norman  nations;  c6nteirding  for 
the  fovereignty  of  that  country,  in  oppofition  to  the 
opinion  of  judge  Fitzherbert,  who  fuppofes  villeinage 
to  have  commenced  at  -the  conqueft,  Ib.  27,  28. 
And  this  he  proves  from  Spelman  and  other  anti- 
quaries. Ib.  The  writ  ds  native  balendo,  by  which 
the  lord  was  enabled  to  recover  his  villein  that 
Ijad  abfconded  from  him,  creates  a  prefumption 
that  all  the  natives  of  England  were  at  feme  period 
reduced  to  a  flate  of  villeinage,  the  word  natfous, 
which  iignified  a  villein,  moil  clearly  defignating  the 
perfon  meant  thereby  to  be  a  native  :  this  etymon  is 
obvious,  as  well  from  the  import  of  the  word  natinms, 
as  from  the  hiilory  of  the  more  remote  ages  of  Britain. 
Sir  Edward  Coke's  Etymology,  "  qti'ia  plerumque 
r.afciinfyir  fervlj''  is  one  of  thofe  puerile  conceits,  which 
fo  frequently  occur  in  his  works,  and  are  unworthy  of 
Ib  great  a  man. 

Barrington  in  his  obfcrvations  upon  magna  cartay 
c.  4.  obfei'ves,  that  the  villeins  who  held  by  fervile 
i  enures  were  confidered  as  fo  macy  negroes  on  a  fugar 
plantation ;  the  words  "  tiler  homo,"  in  magna  carta, 


f         -i         \ 
V        S3        / 

ib  early  as  the  eighth  century  ;  and  it  is. 
alleged  to  have  been  general  about 
middle  of  the  fourteenth,  and  was  near 
expiring  in  the.  (ixteenthr  when  the  cilice- 
very  of  the  American  continent,  and  the 
caftern  and  weitern  coails  of  Africa  gave 
rife  to  the  introduction  of  a  new  ipecies 
of  flavery.  It  took  its  origin  from  th<- 
Fortugueie,  who,  in  order  to  fupply  the 
Spaniard:,  with  perfons  able  to  fuftain  the 
fatigue  of  cultivating  their  new  poiiefiibns 
in  America,  particularly  the  iflands,  o- 
pened  a  trade  between  Africa  and  America 
"for  the  fale  of  Negroes,  about  the  year 
1508 .  The  expedient  of  having  (laves  for 

c.  14.  with  all  deference  to  fir  Edward  Coke,  who 
fays  they  mean  a  free-bolder,  I  underftand  as  meaning 
a  free  man,  ( i )  as  contradiftinguiiued  from  a  •ollle'ni  : 
for  in  the  very  next  fentence  the  words  et  villanys  a;te- 
rius  quam  nofter,"  occur.  Villeinc  mud  certainly  I 
been  mittierous  at  that  day,  to-  have  obtained  a  place  in 
the  Great  Charter.  It  is  no  lefs  an  evidence  that  the:', 
condition  was  in  a  ilate  of  melioration. 

In  Poland,  at  this  day,  the  peaiants  feern  to  be  i;:  an 
nbfolute  (late  of  flavery,  or  at  lead  of  villeinage,  to  the 
r.obiiity,  who  are  the  land-holders. 

(  I  )  Liber  homo,  Sec.  the  title  of  freeman  was  for- 
merly confined  to  the  nolllity  and  gentry  who  were  de-' 
fcsnded  of  free  anceftcrs. — Burgh's  Political  Difquiii- 
tions,  vol.  ili.  p.  400,  who  cites  Spelman's  Gloifr.ry. 
voc.  Liber  homo. 

E 


(    34.) 

labour  was  not  long  peculiar  to  the  Spa> 
niards,  being  afterwards  adopted  by  other 

*  Har-  European  colonies  :*  .and  though  fome  at- 
tempts have  been  inade  to  flop  its  progreft 
in  moft  of  the  United  States,  and  feveral  of 
them  have  the  faireft  profp.eds  of  fuccefs 
in  attempting  the  extirpation  of  it,  yet 
•in  others,  it  hath  taken  fuch  deep  root, 
as  to  require  the  xnoft  ftrenuous  exertions 
to  eradicate  it. 

The  firft  introduction  of  Negroes  into 
Virginia  happened,  as  we  -have  already 
mentioned,  m  the  year  1620  ;  from  that 
period  to  the  year  1-662  there  is  no  cont- 
pilstion  of  cur  laws,  in  print,  now  to  IDC 
met  with.  In  the  revifion  made  in  that 
year,  we  find  an  a&  declaring  that  no 
Englifhman,  trader,  or  other,  who  fhall 
bring  in  any  Indians  as  fervants  and  af~ 
fign  them  over  to  any  other,  .fhall  fell 
them  for  Jl&ucs^  nor  for  any  other  time 
than  Englifh  of  like  age  fhould  ferve 

f  1662.     by  acl  of  afiembly  .  t     The  fucceeding  fef- 

€*  J36*  fion  all  children  born  in  this  country 
were  declared  to  be  bond,  or  free,  ac- 

$  1662.     cording  to  the  condition  of  the  mother.  't 


u   conferring  of  baptifin  doth  not  alter  the 

"   condition  of  the  perfon  baptized,   as  to 

§  1667,     "  his  bondage  or  freedom."  §     Thi^  was 

C.   2. 


"*'  that  divers  matters  ffeecf  fr 
""  this  doubfc  may  more  eareftilly  enr 
ct  vcwir  the  propagating  of  ChriiHanity, 
tc  by  permitting  their  flakes  to  be  bap- 
"  tized,"     It  would  have  been  happy  for 
tkds  tndbrtujwite  race  of  men  if  the  1L 
tender  regard  for  their  bodies,  ha-d  always 
manifefted  itfelf  in  our  laws,   as  is  {hewn 
foi'  titeir  foais:  in>  this  aft.     But  this  was 
not  the  cafe  •    for  two  years  after,    \v~ 
meet  with  an  acl,  declaring,   u  That  if 
any  flave  refill  Ms  mafter,  or  others,  l)v 
his  maker's  orders   corre-Jring  him,  and 
hy  the  extremity  cf  th«  corre&ion  ihould 
;ce  to  die,   fuch  death  fliould  not  be 
accounted  felony  :  but  the  m'-after  or  other 
perfon  appointed  by  his  mailer  to  punifli 
him,   be  acquit  from  mo-leflation  :  ft?ice  it 
could  nfji  be-  prcrfhmed  that  prepsnfive  ma- 
Ike,    which  alone  makes  murder  filony, 
fliould  induce  any  man  to  deftroy  his  own 
cflate."  (I)      This   cruel  and  tyrannical 

(I)  Among  the  Ifraelitec,  according  to  the  Mofaical 
law,  *;  If  a  man  fmote  b's  fei-vant,  or  his  maid,  \rith  a 
«od,  and  he   died  under  his  hand,  he  (hould  furcly  be 
punilhed — notvvithflanding  if  he  continue  a  day  or  t\vq, 
he  fhould  not  be  punifhed:'   *  far,  faith  the  text,  he  )'s  * 
fits  money*      Our  leglfiators  appear  to  have  adopted  the  c.  21 
reafon  of  the  latter  claufe,  without  the  humanity  of  the 
-;cr  port  cf  the  hvr. 

E    2 


*  1705.     act,,  xvas,  at  three  different  periods  *  re- 
?729'  c     ena(^ed)  with  very  little  alteration  ;  and 
4.  1748,    was    not    finally    repealed  till    the    year 
?  rySB      l7^    — abov-e  a  century  after  it  had  firft 
023.        difgraced  our   code.      In   1668  we  meet 
with  the  firft  trcices  of  emancipation,   in 
an  acl  which  fubjecls  Negroe  women  fet 
t-  I^68.     free  to  j-]ue    £ax  on    tithcables.          Two  " 
/ 1670.     years  after,  §  an  act  paffed  prohibiting  In-  - 
«~  5-          dians  or  Negroes,  manumitted,  or  other- 
wife  fet  free,  though  baptized,  from  pur- 
111670.      chafing  Ghriflian  fervants,  |j     From  this 
acl  it  is  evident  that  Indians  had  before 
that  time  been  made  flaves,  as  well  as  Ne- 
groes,   though  we  have  no  traces  of  the 
original  acl  by  which  they  were  reduced 
to  that  condition.      An  acl  of  the   fame 
feflion    recites  that  difputes    had    arlfen 
whether  Indians  taken  in  war  by  any  other 
nation,,    and  by  that  natior.  i-'cl  t;-   l^ic 
Engiifli,  .  are.  fervants  for  //R-,;  or.  far   a 
term  of  years  ^  and  declaiing  tliat.^il  fet- 
vanis,  not  being  Chriftians,  imported  into 
tliis  ^country  by  fiiipf :?•£..,  iliall   te  f laves 
for  their  liib-time  •    biit  that   what  ilialL 
come  by  land,    Iliall  ici^'-e,  if  boys   and 
girls,   until  thirty  years  of  a.gc  ;  If  men 
and  wpruen  tv/elve  years, .  ai:d  1:0  longer. 
On  a.. rupture  \vith  the  Indians  hi  the  year 
1679  "it::vras.:  forliie  fetter  tucc-UTcgev:^  t 


(      37      ) 

-,  declared  that  what  Indian  pri- 
ibners  fhoidd  be  taken  in  Tuzr  fhoiild  be 
free  pur  chafe  to  the  foldier  takfn?  tl\?zi .  *  °  l679- 
Three  years  after  it  was  declared  that  all 
fcrvants  brought  into  this  country  by  fea 
or  land,  not  being  ChrilHans,  whether  Ne- 
groes, Moors,  mulattoes  or  Indians,  except 
Turks   and  Moors  in  amity  with  Great 
Britain,     and    all  Indians    which   fhoulci 
thereafter  be  fold  by  neighboiirin?"  Indi- 
ans, or  any  others  trafficking  with  us,  as 
ilavcs,  fliould  be  (laves  to  all  intents  and  ' 
purpoies.  f     This  aft  was  re-ena&ed  in  f  1682. 
the  year  1705,   and  afterwards  in  1753?  ?"j"  I(I0^. 
nearly  in  the  fame  terms.     In   1705  an  c.  49. 
2tl  v/as  made,  authorifing  a  free  and  open  ^     ' 
trade  for  all  perfcns,  at  all  times,  and  at 
all  place:;,  with  all  Indians  v/hatfocyer.  §  §  1705. 
On  the  authority  of  this  a6r:?  the  general  c*  52" 
court  i in  April  term  1787  decided  that  ro 

brought  into  Virginia  iince  the 
''TIT   thereof,     nor  their    dcicendants, 

^L  O  ' 

can  :Le  Cave:  in  this  corLmonY/calth.  (:•?:} 

(r.i)  Hannah  and  cth^r  ladiuns,  a^iin^l,  D^vic. — 
Sincj  thic  ddjudicationj  I  have  met  with  a  iiiar.ufr.'i'ot 
aft  of  aff^mbl^  made  in  r^oi.  c,  9.  entiti:!jcy  **An 
Aft  for  a  free  Trade  with  Indians,"  the  enafthj  cbiilo" 
or  \vhich  is  in  the  veryv/ordsof.the  aft  cf  1705.  c.  5^. 
A  fimilar  title  to  an  aft  of  that  fefllon  occurs  i::  : ! 
edition  of  1733-.  p.  94.  and  the  chapter  is  numbered 
2*,  -i  th:  nii."u.Ccnot.  If  this  ma-ufcript  be  authentic 


»v 

C.    I. 


In  October    1778-   the   general    srTcmbty 
p?*#ed  the  firfl  •&&  which- occurs  in  our 
code  for  prohibiting  the   importation  of 
/&•    flaves;*  tiiereby  declaring  that  no  flay e. 
fhoild.  thereafter    be.   brought   into  this 
ccisa^oKwealth  by  land,     or  by    v/ater; 
and  that  every  Have  imported   contrary 
thereto,  fiiould-.  upon  fueh  importation  be 
free :  with  an  exception  as  to  fuch  as  might 
belong    to   perfons   migrating  from  the1 
other  ftates,    or  be  claimed  by   defcent, 
cleviie^  or  marriage,    or  be  at  that  time 
the  actual  property  of  any  citizen  of  this 
commonwealth,  r eliding  in  any  other  of 
the  United  States,    or  belonging  to  tra- 
vellers making  a  transient  flay,  and  car- 
rying their  fiaves  away  with  them. — In 
1705   this,    act  unfortunately    underwent 
iaine  alteration,  by  declaring  that  {laves 
li.:.veafLer     brought    into-  this    common-, 
v,  calth,  and  kept  therein  one  whole  year 
< Aether ^  or  ib  long  at  different  times  as 
iaali  amw.nt  to  a  year,  {hall  be  free.     Ey 

(  which  there  is  feme  reafqn  to  prefume,  it  heing  ccpieii 
ill  feme  bb.nk  leavco  at  the  end  of  Purvis's  edition, 
ciiu  apparently  \vr-ttcn  i-.bout  the  time  of  the  pa-flage 
of  0.iC  aQ),  it  v;culd'  fetm  that  no  Indians  brought 
into  Virginia  for  more  than  a  century,  nor  any  of  their 
defcer.dcr.ts,  can  be  retaioed  in  fiavery  in  this 


(     39     ) 

this  means  the  difficulty  -of  proving  t 
right  to  freedom  will  be  not  a  little 
rnented  :  for  the  fact  of  the  firfi  imp3rta- 
tion,  where  the  right  to  freedom.  Im-iie- 
diately  enfued,  might  have  been  always 
proved  without  difficulty  ;  but  where  a 
flave  is  fuhject  to  removal  from  place  to 
place,  and  his  right  to  freedom  is  poll- 
poned  for  fo  long  a  time  as  a  whole  year, 
or  perhaps  fever  al  years,  the  provifions 
in  favour  of  liberty  may  be  too  eaiily 
evaded.  The  fame  act  declares  that  no 
perfons  mail  thenceforth  be  flaves  in  this 
commonwealth,  except  fuch  as  were  fo 
on  the  firft  day  of  that  fe:1ion  (Oct.  17  tl^ 
1785),  and  the  defcendants  of  the  females 
of  them.  This  a£  was  re-enacled  in  thfe 

revifal  made  in  1792.  *     In  1793  an  addi"  *f  Seea<rts 

or  i  "j  9*f  ' 
tional  acl  pafTed,   authorifmg  and  requir-  c.  103. 

ing  any  juftice  of  the  peace  having  notice 

of  the  importation  of  any  flaves,  dirc£bly 

or  indireclly,  firoin  any  part  of  Africa  or 

the  Weft  Indies,  to  caufe  fuch  {lave  to  be 

immediately  apprehended  and  tranfportecl 

out  of  the  commonwealth.  (•     Such  is  the  t  "Edit,  of 

rife,  progrefs,  andprefent  foundation  of 

Slavery  in  Virginia,  fo  far  as  I  have  been 

able  to  trace  it.     The  prefent  number  of 

fkves  in  Virginia,  is  immenfe,  as  appears 

by  the  cenfus  tafccn  in   1/91,  amounting 


to  no  lefs  than  292,427  fouls  :  nearly  two- 
fifths  of  the  whole  population  of  the  com- 
monwealth, (n)  We  may  confole  our- 
felves  with  the  hope  that  this  proportion 

(n)  Although  it  be  true  that  the  number  of  flaves 
in  the  vvfjcle  ilate  bears  the  proportion  of  292,427,  to 
7  7,610,  the  whole  number  of  fouls  in  the  ilate,  that 
is,  nearly  as  t<wo  tdjtvf  ;  yet  this  proportion  is  by  no 
means  uniform  throughout  the  ilate.  In  the  forty-four 
counties  lying  upon  the  Bay*  and  the  great  rivers  of 
the  fcate,  and  comprehended  by  a  line  including  Bru.nf- 
xviek,  Cumberland,  Goochland,  Hanover,  Spottfylva- 
nia,  Stafford,  Prince  William  and  Fairfax,  and  the 
counties  eailward  thereof,  the  number  of  flaves  is 
196,542,  and  the  number  of  free  perfons,  including 
free  Negroes  and  mulattoes,  198,371  only.  So  that 
-,the  blacks  in  that  populous  and  extenfive  diftri&  of 
country  are  more  numerous  than  the  whites.  In  the 
fecond  ckfs,  comprehending  nineteen  counties,  and 
extending  from  the  laft  mentioned  line  to  the  Blue 
Ridge,  and  including  the  populous  counties  of  Frede- 
rick and  Berkeley,  beyond  the  Blue  Ridge,  there  are 
82,286  flaves,  and  136,251  free  perfons  ;  the  number 
of  free  perfons  in  that  clafs  not  being  two  to  one,  to 
the  flaves.  In  the  third  clafs  the  proportion  is  confi- 
derably  increafed  ;  the  eleven  counties  of  which  it 
confjfts  contain  only  11,218  ilaves,  and  76,281  free 
perfons.  This  clafs  reaches  to  the  AJlegany  ridge  of 
mountains  :  the  fourth  and  laft  clafs,  comprehending 
fourteen  counties  weftward  of  the  third  clafs,  contains 
only  2,381  flaves,  and  42,288  free  perfons.  It  is  ob- 
vious from  this  ilatcment  that  almoft  all  the  dangers 
and  inconveniences  which  may  be  apprehended  from 
z  ft  ate'  of  flavery  on  the  one  hand,  or  an  attempt  to 


(     4*     ) 

not  increaie,  the  further  ivn per :Lr; 
of  iiavcs  being  prohibited,  -wltiiit  the  i' 
migrations  of  white  people  hither  is  en- 
couraged.    But  this  hope  alfords  no  other 
relief  from  the  evil  of  flavery,  than  a  di- 
minution   of  thole  apprchenfions   which 
are  naturally  excited  by  the  deter 
fo-  large a  number  of.  opprcfTed  individuals 
a:nong'.:us,    and  the  poiiibiilty  that  they 
may  one  day  be  roufed  to   a:i  attempt  to 
fhake  off  their  chains. 

Whatever  inclination  the  i>rit  inhabi- 
tants of  Virginia  might  have  to  encourage 
{lavery,  a  dlrpoHtion  to  check  its  progrefs, 
and  increafe,  manifefted  itfelf  in  the  le- 
giflature  even  before  the  clofe  of  the  laft 
century.  So  long  ago  as  the  year  1669 
we  find  the  title  of  an  act,  *  laying  an  im-  *  Edit,  of 
pofition  upon  Jervants ,  and  flccucs.,  ini-  J733*  c* 
ported  into  this  country  ^  wliich  was  ei- 
ther continued,  revifed,  or  incrcafedvby 
a  variety  of  temporary  acls,  palled  be- 
tween that  period  and  the  revolution  in 
\7j6.(o} — One  of  thefe  acts  pafTed  in 
1723,  by  a  marginal  note  appears  to  have 
been  repealed  by  proclamation,  Oct.  2-4, 

abolifh  it,  on  the  other,  will  be  confined  to  the  people 
caftward  of  the  blue  ridge  of  mountains. 

(o)  The  follcy,\;ig  is  a  lift  of  the  a£ts,  or  titles  of 
a&s,  irnpofing  duties  on  flaves.  imported,  .which  occur 

F 


(    4*    } 

In  1732  a  duty  of  five  per  c<  me. 
was  laid  on  Haves  imported,  to  be  paid 
by  the  buyers ;  a  meafure  calculated  to 

in  the  various  compilations   of  our  laws,    or  in   the 

Seffions  Acts,   or  Journals. 

l6'99,  c.  12.  title  only  retained.  Edit,  of  1733,  p.  1 1  $ 
1701,  c.  5.  the  fame,  -  n£ 

1704,  c.  4.  the  fame,       -  122 

.  1705,  c.  i.  the  fame,     -  -  126 

1710,0.  i.  the  fame,         -  *•        239 

3712,  c.  3.  the  fame,  -     282 

3723,  c.  i.  repealed  by  proclamation,  333 

1727,  c.   i.  enacted  with  a  fufpending   claufe, 

and  the  royal  aiTent  refufed,  -       376 

1732,  c.  3.  printed  at  large,          -  46^ 

1734,  c.  3.  printed  at  large  in  Seffions  A&s. 
1736,  c.  i.  the  fame. 
1738,  c.  6.  the  fame. 
1740,  c*  2.  the  fame. 
1742,  c.  2.  the  fame. 

From  this  period  I  have  not  been  able  to 

refer  to  the  Seffions  A&s. 
1 752,  c.  i.  printed  at  large  in  the  edit,  of  1769,  281 

1754,  c.  i.  the  fame,  -        319 

1755,  c.  2.  SefTicns  Ads.    Ten  per  cent>  in  ad- 
dition to  all  former  duties. 

1759,  c-  I-  printed  at  large,  edition  of  1769,       369 
1763,  c.  i.  Journals  of  that  fefilon. 
1 766,  c.  3,  4.  printed  at  large,  edit,  of  1 769,  461,  462 
c.   15.  additional  duty,   the  title  only  is 

printed, being  repealed  by  the  crown,  Ib.  473 
1769,  c.  7,  8,  and  12.  title  only  printed,  edition 

of  1785,      -  -      6,  7 

1772,  c.  15.  title  only  printed,         -        Ibidem,  24 


render  rt  as  little  obnoxious  as  polnble  to 
the  Englifh  merchants  trading  to  Ani  n, 
and  not  improbably  fug  gelled  by  them,  to 
the  privy  council  in  England.     The  pre- 
amble to  this  aft  is  in  thefe  remarkable 
words,   cc  We  your  majefty's  moll  tiuti- 
"  ful  and  loyal  fubjefts,   Sec,  taking  into 
;;  our  ferious  coniideration  the  exigencies 
ic  of  your  government  here,  and  that  the 
'"  duty  laid  upon  liquors  will  not  be  fuf- 
"  ficient  to  defray  the  necenary  cypences 
4t  thereof,   do  humbly  rcprefent  to  your 
c  majefty,  that  no  other  duty  can  be  laid 
c  upon  our  import  or  export,    without 
c  opprefling  your   fubjefe,  than  a  dnty 
<£  upon  flcwes  imported^    to    be  paid  by 
'  the  buyers,   agreeable  to  your  mak'fty's 
tc  in fl ructions  to   your  lieutenant  gover- 
*c  nor."     This  ace  was  only  for  the  fliort 
period  of  four  years,  but  feems  to  have 
been  continued  from    time   to  time    till 
the  year   17^1,    when  the  duty  expired, 
but  was  revived  the  next  }Tear.     In  the 
year  1740  an  additional  duty  of  five  per 
cent,  was  impofed  for  four  years,  for  the 
purpoie  of  an  expedition  againft  the  Spa- 
niards,  &c.  to  be   likewife  paid  by  the 
buyers :"  and  in  1742  the  whole  duty  was 
continued  till  July  i,    1747. — The  aft  of 
1752,  by  \yliich  thefe  duties  were  revived 

F2 


(    44    ) 

continued  (as  well  as  feveral  former 
acts),  takes  notice  that  the  duty  had  been 
found  no  -ways  bur  den/ erne  to  the  traders  in 
•flaves.    In  1754  an  additional  duty  of  five 
per  cent,  was  impofed  for  the  term  of  three 
years,  by  an  aft  for  encouraging  and  pro-- 
teftin  i  the  fcttlers  on  the  Mi&fippi :  this 
•duty,  like  all  the  former,  was  to  be  paid  by 
the  juyers.    In  1759  a  duty  of  20  per  cent, 
was  inipofed  upon  ail  {laves  imported  into 
Virginia  from  Maryland,  North  Carolina, 
or  other  places  in  America,  to  continue 
for  feven  years.     In  1769  the  fame  duty 
was  further  continued.     In  the  fame  fe£* 
£on  the  duty  of  five  per  cent,  was  conti- 
nued for  three  years,   and  an    additional' 
duty  often  per  cent,  to  be  likewife  paid 
.by  the   buyers,     was  hnpofdd  for  feven 
years  ;    and    a  further  duty  of  five   per 
cent,  was,  by  a  feparate  ad  of  the  fame 
.feflion,  impofed  for  the  better  fupport  oi? 
the  contingent  charges  of  government,  to 
.be  paid  by  the  buyers.     In  1772  all  theie 
duties  were  further  continued  for  the  term 
of  five  years  from  the  expiration  of  the 
afts  then  in  force :    the   afTembly  at  the 
.fame    time  .petitioned   the    throne,  (p.) 

(p)  CC/3  The  following  extraft  from  a  petition   to 

the  throne,  prefented  from  the  hcufe  of  burgeiTes  of 

'Virginia,  April   I,   1772,  will  fhcw  the  fenie  of  the 


(    4!    ) 

t$  remove  all  thojb  rejlraints  which  inhibited 
his  majefty's  governors  afTenting  to  fucli 
'laws  as  might  check  Jo  very  pernicious  a  < 
merce^  as  that  of  fiavcry. 

people  of  Virginia  on  the  fubjeft  of  flavery  at  that 
period. 

"  The  many  inilances  of  your  majeily's  benevo1  t 
intentions  and  more  gracious  difpofition  to  ]>*•*••»•;  ote 
the  profperity  and  happinefs  of  your  fubjects  m  the 
colonies,  encourages  us  to  look  up  to  the  throne,  and 
implore  your  majefty's  paternal  afiiftance  in  averting  a 
calamity  of  a  moft  alarming  nature." 

"  The  importation  of  Haves  into  the  colonies  From 
the  coaft  of  Africa  hath  long  been  confide/ed  ?s  a 
trade  of  great  inhumanity,  and  under  its  prefcnt  er-LO-t- 
•ragemenf,  we  have  too  much  reafon  to  fear  will  en- 
J.nngcr  the  very  exijlence  of  your  m^jeily's  Ameiic.in 
dominions." 

"  We  are  fenfible  that  feme  of  your  majefly's  fub- 
jcfts  of  Great  Britain  may  reap  emoluments  from  til's 
fort  of  traffic,  but  when  we  confider  that  it  greatly 
retards  the  fettlement  of  the 'colonies,  with  ntsrj  yffcl 
inhabitaot$»  and  may,  in  time,  have  the  mofe  ddlruftive 
.influence,  \ve  prefume  to  hope  that  the  uilercjl  cf  a  fiw 
••vill  be  difregardwd  -when  placed  i:i  competition  with 
the  fccurity  and  happinefs  of  fuch  numbers  of  your 
majcfty's  dutiful  and  loyal  fiftje&s." 

Deeply  imprefled  with  thefe  fentiments,  we  moft 
humbly  befeech  your  majefty  to  rtwueall  tkofc  rylraints 
OTI  your  majcfty's  governors  of  this  colony,  -z:-^^  in- 
hibit their  cjjer.t'^  to  fuch  Lvu s  a;  triiglt  check  fo'  *osr^ 
•pernicious  a  co;?'.ir.srcs."  Journals  of  the  Koufe  cf 
JBur:;-efies,  page  131. 

This  petition  produced  no  eSjft,  as  r-p-- 


(     46     ) 

In  the  conrfe  of  this  enquiry  it  is  eafy 
to  trace  the  dcfire  of  the  legiflature  to 
ptit  a  flop  to  the  further  importation  of 
f-aves  ;  and  had  .not  this  defire  been  uni- 
formly oppofed  on  the  part  of  the  crown, 
it    is    highly  probable  that  event  would 
have  taken  efleft  at  a  much  earlier  period 
than  it  did.     A  duty  of  five  per  cent,  to 
be  paid  by  the  buyers,  at  firft,  with  diffi- 
culty obtained  the  royal  afTent.     Requhl- 
lions  from  the  crown  for  aids,  on  parti- 
cular occafions,   afforded  a  pretext  from 
time  to  time  for  incrcafing  the  duty  from 
five,    to  ten,    and  finally  to  twenty  per 
cent,  with  which  the  buyer  was  uniformly 
made    chargeable.      The  wifhes  of  the 
people  of  this  colony,  were  not  fufficient 
to  counterbalance  the  intereil  of  the  Eng- 
li'h  merchants,  trading  to  Africa,   and  it 
is  probable,  that  however  difpofecl  to  put 
a  flop  to   fo  infamous   a  traffic  by    lav/, 
we  ihould  never  have  been  able  to  effecl 
it,  fo  long  as  we  might  have  continued 
dependant    on   the    Britifh   government  : 
an  objecl  liiflicient  of  itfclf  to  juflify   a 

the  fiiTc  claufe  cf  our  CONSTITUTION,  where  among- 
oilier  a£ts  of  mifir.k,  "  the  inhuman  ufe  of  the  royal 
negative"  in  refilling  us  permiffion  to  exclude  fiaves 
from  among  us  by  law,  is  enumerated,  ar;;cr.g  the 
ivr^fo;^  i'^jipjir^'ir.g  from  Great  Briitln. 


(     47     ) 

revolution.  That  the  le-Hikture  of  Vir- 
ginia were  fincerely  difpoicd  to  put  a  flop 
to  it,  cannot  be  doubted  ;  for  even  dur- 
ing the  tumult  and  confulion  of  the  revo- 
lution, we  have  feeu  that  they  availed 
themfelves  of  the  earlieft  opportunity,  to 
cruih  for  ever  fo  pernicious  andinfamo.  s 
a  commerce,  by  an  acl  patted  in  Oclober 
1778,  the  penalties  of  which,  though  ap- 
parently leiTened  by  the  a6c  of  1792,  are 
ftiil  equal  to  the  value  of  the  (lave  ;  being 
two  hundred  dollars  upon  the  importer., 
and  one  hundred  dollars  upon  every  per- 
fon  buying  or  felling  an  imported  fiavc. 

A  fyfhem  uniformly  penifred  in  fofr 
nearly  a  whole  ceatury,  and  fin-ally  car- 
ried into  effect,  fo  fc<pn  as  the  legiflature 
was  unreftraiiie  I  by  u  the  inhuman  ex- 
ercife  of  the  royal  negative,"  evinces  tlit 
fmcerity  of  that  difporition  which  the  le- 
.giflature  had  fhewn  during  £b  long  a  pe- 
riod, to  put  a  check  to  the  growing  evil. 
From  the  time  that  the  duty  was  raifed 
above  five  per  cent,  it  is  probable  that  the 
importation  of  flaves  into  this  colony 
decreafed.  The  demand  for  them  in  the 
more  fouthern  colonies  probably  contri- 
buted alfo  to  leiTen  the  numbers  imported 
into  this  :  for  fonie  years  immediately  pre- 
ceding the  revolution,  the  importation,  of 


(    48     ) 

flaves  into  Virginia  might  almoft  be  con- 
fidered  as  at  an  end  ;  and  probably 
would  have  been.,  entirely  fo,  if  the  inge- 
nuity of  the  merchant  had  not  found  out 
the  means  of  evading  the  heavy  duty,  by 
pretended  fales,  at  which  the  flaves  were 
bought  in  by  fbme  friend,  at  a  quarter  of 
their  real  value. 

Tedious  and  unentertaining  as  this  de- 
tail may  appear  to  all  others,  a  citizen  of 
Virginia  will  feel  fbme  fatisfaftion  at 
reading  fo  clear  a  vindication  of  his  coun- 
try, from  the  opprobrium,  but  too  la- 
vifuly  beftowed  upon  her  of  foflering 
flavery  in  her  bofom,  whilft  me  bo  ails  a 
facred  regard  to  the  liberty  of  her  citi- 
zens, and  of  mankind  in  general.  The 
acrimony  of  fiich  cenfiires  muft  abate,  at 
leafl  in  the  breads  of  the  candid,  upon  arx 
impartial  review  of  the  fubjed:  here 
brought  before  ,thein  ;  and  if  in  addition 
to  what  we  have  already  advanced,  they 
coniider  the  difficulties  attendant  on  any 
plan  for  the  abolition  of  flavery,  in  a 
country  where  fo  large  a  proportion  of  the 
inhabitants  are  flaves  ;  and  where  a  ftill 
larger  proportion  of  the  cultivators  of  the 
earth  are  of  that  defcription  of  men,  they 
will  probably  feel  emotions  of  fympathy 
and  corkipafiion,  both  for  the  flave  and  for 


(     49     ) 

his  mailer,  flicceed  to  thofe  hafty  preju- 
dices, which  even  the  beft  difpofitions  are 
not  exempt  from  contracting,  upon  fub- 
jecls  where  there  is  a  deficiency  of  infor- 
mation. 

We  are  next  to  confider  the  condition 
of  flaves  in  Virginia,  or  the  legal  confe- 
quences  attendant  on  a  ftate  of  iiavery  in  ' 
this  commonwealth  ;  and  here  it  is  not 
my  intention  to  notice  thofe  laws,  which 
condder  flaves,  merely  as  property,  and 
have  from  time  to  time  been  enacted  to 
regulate  the  difpofition  of  them,  as  fuck  ; 
for  thefe  will  be  more  properly  confidered 
elfewhere  :  my  intention  at  prcfent  is 
therefore  to  take  a  view  of  fuch  laws, 
only,  as  regard  flaves,  as  a  dirfinft  cla£; 
of  peffbns\  whofe  rights,  if  indeed  they 
pofTefs  any,  are  reduced  to  a  much  nar- 
rower compafs,  than  thofe,  of  which  we 
have  been  (peaking  before. 

Civil  rights,  we  may  remember,  are 
reducible  to  three  primary  heads  ;  the 
right  of  perfonal  lecurity  ;  the  right  of 
perfona!  liberty  ;  and  the  right  of  private 
property.  In  a  ftate  of  flavery  the  two 
lafl  arc  wholly  aboliflied,  the  perfon  of 
the  Have  being  at  the  abfolute  difpofal  .of 
his  matter  ;  and  property,  what  he  is 
capable,  in  that  flatc,  either  "of  Acquiring, 
G 


(    5°    ) 

or  holding,  to  his   own  ufe.      Hence  it 
will  appear  how  perfectly  irreconcilable  a 
ftate  of  flavery  is  to  the  principles  of  a 
democracy,  which  form  the  baft svnid. foun- 
dation of  our  government.     For  our  bill 
of  rights  declares,  '"  that  all  men  are  by 
"  nature   equally  free    and  independent, 
"  and  have  certain  rights  of  which  they 
•"   cannot  deprive  or  diveft  their  pofterity 
4C  —namely,  the  enjoyment  of  life  and 
"  liberty,    with  the  means   of  acquiring 
"   and  poffeffing  property."     This   is  in- 
deed no  more  than  a  recognition  of  the 
firfl  principles  of  the  law  of  nature,  which 
teaches  us  this  equality,  and  enjoins  £very 
man,  whatever  advantages  he  may  pofTefs 
over  another.,  as  to  the  various  qualities 
or  endowments  of  body  or  mind,  to  prac- 
tice the  precepts  of  the  law  of  nature  to 
thofe  who  are  in  thefe  refpecls  his  inferi- 
ors, no  lefs  than  it  enjoins  his  inferiors  to 
practife  them  towards  him.    Since  he  has 
no  more  right  to  iniult  them,  than  they 
have  to  injure  him.     Nor  does  the  bar? 
unkindnejs  of  nature  or  of  fortune  con- 
demn a  man  to  a  iv&rfe   condition    than 
others,  as  to  the  enjoyment  of  common 
*'Spav-     privileges.  *     It  would  be  hard  to  recon- 
an'sPuiT.   c«je  re(iucing  the  Negroes  to  a^flate  of 
17.  flavery  to  thefe  principles,  unlefs  we  firft 


(   5'    ; 

dfegrade  them  below  the  rank  of  human 
beings,  not  only  politically,  but  alfo 
phyfically  and  morally. — The  Roman  law-  - 
yers  look  upon  thofe  only  properly  as 
fcrfons^  who  are/n?<f,  puttingyS^J  into 
the  rank  of  goods  and  chattels  ;  and  the 
policy  of  our  legislature,  as  well  as 
the  pra&ice  of  flave-holders  in  America 
ki  general,  feems  conformable  to  that 
idea  :  but  furely  it  is- time  we  mould  ad- 
mit the  evidence  of  moral  truth,  and  le«rn 
to  regard  them  as  our  fellow  men,  and 
equals,  except  in  thofe  particulars  where 
accident,  or  perhaps  nature,  may  have 
given  us  fomc  advantage  ;  a  recompence 
for  which  they  perhaps  enjoy  in  other 
refpedts . 

Slavery,  fays  Har  grave,  always  im- 
ports an  obligation  of  perpetual  fervice, 
which  only  the  confent  of  the  matter  can 
diffob/e  :  it  alfo  generally  gives  to  the 
mafter  an  arbitrary  power  of  adminiftring 
every  fort  of  correction,  however  inhu- 
man, not  immediately  affecting  life  or 
limb,  and  even  thefe  in  fome  countries, 
as  formerly  in  Rome,  and  ?t  this  day 
among  the  Afiatics  and  Africans,  are  left 
cxpofed  to  the  arbitrary  will  of  a  mafter, 
or  protected  only  by  fines  or  other  flight 
.punifnrnents.  The  property  of  the  Have 
G  2 


alio    is    abfolutely    the    property    of  his 
matter,  the   fiave  himfelf  being  the  fub- 
jec°c  of  property,  and  as  fuch  faleahle,  or 
tranfmifiible  at  the  will  of  his  matter. — A 
flavery,    fo  malignant  as  that    defcribed, 
does  not  leave  to  its  wretched  victims  the 
lead  vefiige  of  any  civil  right,   and  even 
di veils  them  of  all  their  natural  rights. 
It  does  not,  however,    appear,  that  the 
rigours  of  flavery  in  this    country  were 
ever  as  great,  as  thofe  above  defcribed: 
yet  it  mutt  be  confeiTed,  that,  at  times, 
they  have  fallen  very  little  fhort  of  them. 
The  firft  fevere  law  refpecling  flaves, 
now  to  be  met  with  in  our  code,  is  that 
of  1669,    already  mentioned,  which  de- 
clared that  the  death  of  a  flave  refi fling 
his  matter,  or  other  perfon  correcting  him 
by  his  order,  happening  by  extremity  of  the 
correction,  fho'uld  not  be  accounted  felo- 
isy.     The  alterations  which  this  law  un- 
*  1705.    derwent  in  three  fucceffive  acts,  *  were 
172?*  c     kv  no  means  calculated  effectually  to  mi- 
4.    1748.  tigate  its    feverity  ;    it  feems  rather  to 
have  been  augmented  by  the  aci  of  1723, 
which  declared  that  a  perfon  indited  for 
the  murder  of  a  flave,  and  found  guilty 
of  vnanfiaughteF^  mould  not  incur  any  pu- 
iiifhmcnt  for  the  fame,  (q) 

(a)  In  December   term   1788,    one  John  Hufton 


(    53    ) 

All  thefe  acts  were  at  length  repealed 
in  1788.  *     So  that  homicide  of  a  (lave  *  1788. 
Hands  now  upon  the  fame  footing,  as  in  2 
the  cafe  of  any  other  perfon.     In  1672  it 
was  declared  lawful  for  any  perfon  pur- 
fuing  any  runaway  Negroe,  mulattoe,  In- 
dian (lave,'  or  Jervant  for  life,  by  virtue 
of  an  hue  and  cry,  to  kill  them  in  cafe  of 
refiilance,    without  being  queftioned  for 
the  fame,  t     A  few  years  afterwards  this  t  l672- 
act  was  extended  to  perfons  employed  to 
apprehend  runaways.  !    In  1705,  thefe  acts  J  1680. 
underwent  feme  fmall    alteration  ;    two  c' 
juftices  being  authorifed  by  proclamation 
to  outlaw  runaways,  who  might  thereafter 
be    -killed   and    deilroyed    by  any  perfon 
whatfoever,  \yyjuch  Mays  and  means  as  he 
may  think  fit,   without  accufation  or  im- 
peachment of  any   crime  for  fo  doing  :  §  §  1705- 
And  if  any  fuch  Cave  were  apprehended, c'  '•- 
he  might  be  puniflied  at  the  discretion  of 
the  county  court,  either  by  dif>ner,tberin<: , 
or  in  any  other  manner  not  touching  life. 

was  tried  in  the  general  court  for  the  murder  of  a 
fla-ve  ;  the  jury  found  him  guilty  of  manfiaughter,  and 
the  court,  upon  a  motion  in  arrefl  of  judgment,  dif- 
chargcd  him  without  any  punifnment.  The  general 
aflembly  being  then  fitting,  forpe  of  the  members  of 
the  court  mentioned  tlie  cafe  to  fame  leading  characters 
in  the  legiflature,  and  the  a&  was  at  the  £ime  fcfilon 
repealed. 


C  *f  ) 

The  inhuman  rigour  of  this  aft  wasvaf- 
*  1723.    terwards  *  extended  to  the  venial  offence 
ivts.  c.    °^  S°*ng  a^road  by  night,  if  the  flave  was 
31.  notorioujly  guilty  of  it. — Such  are  the  cru- 

elties to  which  a  ftate  of  flavery  gives 
birth ;  iuch  the  horrors  to  which  the  hu- 
man mind  is  capable  of  being  reconciled^ 
by  its  adoption.     The  dawn  of  humanity 
at  length  appeared  in  the  year  1769,  when 
the  power  of  difmembering,  even  under 
the  authority  of  a  county  court,  was  re- 
fbrifted  to  the  fmgle  offence  of  attempting 
f  1769.    to  ravifh  a  white  womanrt  in  which  cafe 
perhaps   the  pusiimment  is    perhaps   not 
more  than   commenfurate  to  the  crime ^ 
In  1772    fbme  reftraints  were  laid  upon 
the  practice  of  outlawing  (laves,  requiring 
that  it  fhould  appear  to  the  fat  is  fa  fit  on  of 
the  juflices  that  the  flaves  were  outlying, 
J  1772.    and  doing  mij chief,  t     Thefe  loofe  expref- 
c-  9-         ficns   of  the   acl,    left  too  much  in  the 
difcretion  of  men,  not  much  addicted  to 
weighing  their  import. — In  1792,  every- 
thing relative  to  the  outlawry  of  flaves 
§  Edit.     was  expunged  from  our  code,  §  and  I  trufl 

J794-  c-    will   never   again  find  a  place  in  it.     By 
103. 

the  aft  of    1680,    a   Negroe,    mulattoe, 

or  Indian,  bond  or  free,  prefuming  to  lift 
his  hand  in  oppofition  to  any  Chriftian, 
ftiould  receive  thirty  lafhes  on  his  bare 


(    55    ) 

back  for  every  offence.  *     The  fame  aft  *  1680, 
-prohibited  flaves  from  carrying  any  club,  j"  *?"  £ 
ftaff,   gun,  fword,  or  other  weapon,  of- 
fenfive   or   defenfive.       This  was    after- 
wards extended  to  all  Negroes,  mulattoe* 
and  Indians  whatfoever,  with  a  few  ex- 
ceptions in  favour  of  houfekeepers,  refi- 
-dentson  a  frontier  plantation,  andfuch  as 
were  enlitted  in  the  militia,  t      Slaves,  f  1723- 
by  thefe  and  other  a<H:s,  T  are  prohibited  J"  ^ ' 
from  going  abroad  without  leav  e  in  writ-  c.  49. 
ing  from  their  mailers,  and  if  they  do,  *j 
may  be  whipped:  any  perfon  fuffering  ac.  31. 
Have  to  remain  on  his  plantation  for  four  * 
hours  together,  or  dealing  with  him  with-  c.  77. 
out  leave  in  writing  from  his  matter,  is 
fubjecl  to  a  fine.     A  runaway  (lave  may 
be   apprehended  and   committed  to  jail, 
and  if  not  claimed  within  three  months 
(being  firtt  advertifed)  he  fliall  be  hired 
out,  having  an  iron  collar  firtt  put  about 
his  neck:  and  if  not   claimed  within  a 
year  fliall  be  fold.  §  Thefe  provifions  were  j  1 753. 
in   general  re-enacted  in   1792,  (j    but  the  <••_?•. 
puniihment  to  be  inflicted  on  a  Negroe  or  I794.  c. 
mulattoe,  for   lifting  bis  hand  againtt  a  I03*  13I- 
white  perfon,  is  rettri&ed  to  thofe  cafes, 
where  the  former  is  not  wantonly  afTault- 
ed.     In  this  art  the  word  Indian  appears 
-to   have  be.en    defignedly   omitted  :    the 


(.    5$    ) 

final  1  number  of  thefe  people,  or  their 
clefcendants  remaining  among  us,  concur- 
ring \vith  a.  more  liberal  way  of  thinking, 
probably   gave   occafion  to   this    circum- 
ihmce.     The  aft  of  1748,  c.  31,  made  it 
felony  without  benefit  of  clergy  for  a  Have 
to  prepare,    exhibit,    or   admin  ifter    any 
medicine  whatever,  without  the  order  or 
confent  of  the  mailer  ;    but  allowed  clergy 
if  it  appeared  that  the  medicine  was  not 
adminiitered  with  an  /'//  intent  ;    the  adl 
of  1792,  with  more  juitice,   direcls  that 
*  Edit,     in  fuch  cafe  he  mail  be  acquitted.  *     To 
'^'    c*  confult,  advife,  or  confpire,  to  rebel,  or 
to  plot,  or  confpire  the  death  of  any  per- 
fon  whatfoever,  is  ftill  felony  without  be- 
j.  !-;$.     nent  of  clergy  in  a  flave.  — Riots,  routs, 
c-  31-       unlawful  affemblies,  trefpaffes  and  fedi- 
jc?f"       tious  fpeeches  by  {laves,   are  punifliable 
with  flripes,  at  the  difcretion  of  a  juftice 
J  1785.    of  the   peace/: — The  mailer  of  a  flave 
c  77'       Dcrmlttinq;  him  .to  ^o  at  large  and  trade 

T  '"'O  1      C*  *~^ 

10^,.          S3  a  freeman,   is  ihbjecl:  to  a  fine  ;  §   and 
§  1769.     -£-j,e  fu^rs  the  (lave  to  hire  himfelf  out, 

C.   IQ. 

May         the   Utter  may  be  fold,   and  twenty-five 

1 7  82.  c.         ,  c£nt a  of  +^Q  nrice  be  cT5Dlied  to  the  ufe 

C3.  i79/;.  r 

ib.        '   of  the  county. — Negroes  and  mulattoes, 

whether  (laves  or  not,  are  incapable  of 
being  v/itnelTes,  but  againfl,  or  between 
NcTroc3  and  mulattoes  5  they  are  not  per- 


(     57     ) 

mitted  to  intermarry  with  any  white  per- 
fon  ;  yet  no  punifhraent  is  annexed  to  the 
offence  in  the  (lave ;  nor  is  the  marriage 
void ;  but  the  white  perfon  contracting  the 
marriage,  and  the  clergyman  by  whom  it 
is  celebrated  are  liable  to  fine  and  impri- 
Jfonment ;  and  this  is  probably  the  only 
inflance  in  which  our  laws  will  be  found 
more  favourable  to  aNegroe  than  a  white 
perfon.  Thefe  provifions  though  intro- 
duced into  our  code  at  dLTerent  periods, 
were  all  re-enacted  in  1792.  *  *  Edit,  cf 

From  this  melancholy  review  it  will  ™ 
appear  that  not  only  the  right  of  propertyT 
and  the  right  of  perfonal  liberty,  but  even 
the  right  of  perfonal  fecurity,  has  been, 
at  times,  either  wholly  annihilated,  or 
reduced  to  a  fliadow  :  and  even  in  thefe 
days,  the  prote-flion  of  the  latter  feems  to 
be  confined  to  very  few  cafes.  Many  ac- 
tions, indifferent  in  themfelves,  being 
permitted  by  the  law  of.  nature  to  all 
mankind,  and  by  the  laws  of  fbclety  to 
all  free  perfons,  are  cither  rendered  highly 
criminal  in  a  flave,  or  fubjecl:  him  to  ibme 
kind  of  punifhmeat  or  reftraint.  Nor  is 
it  in  this  refpeft  only,  -that  his  condition 
is  rendered  thus  deplorable  by  law.  The 
meafure  of  pimi/hment  for  the  fame  of- 
fence, is  often,  and  the  manner  of  trial 
H 


(    5*    ) 

and  conviction  is  always,  different  in  the  . 
cafe  of  a  {lave,  and  a  free-man.     If  the 
latter  be  accnfed  of  any  crime,  he  is  en- 
tktuled  to  an  examination  .before  the  court 
of  the  county  where  the  offence  is  alleged 
to  have  been  committed ;  whofe  decifion, 
if  in  his  favour,  is  held  to  be  a  legal  and 
final  acquittal,  but  it  is  not  final  if  againft 
him  ;    for  after  this,  both  a  grand  jury, 
and  -a  petit  jury  of  the  county,  muft  fuc- 
ceilively  pronounce  him  guilty  ;  the  for- 
mer by  the  concurrent  voices  of  twelve 
at  leaft,  of  their  body,  and  the  latter,  by 
their  unanimous  verdift  upon  oath.     Ke 
may  take  exception  to  the  proceedings  a- 
gainfl  him,  by  a  motion  in  arreft  of  judg- 
ment ;  and  in  this  cafe,  or  if  there  be  a 
fpecial  verdicl,  the  fame  unanimity  be- 
tween his  judges,  as  between  his  jurors, 
is  neceiTary  to  his  condemnation.     Laftly, 
though  the   punifliment   which   the  law 
pronounces  for  his  offence  amount  to  death 
itfelf,  he  fhall  in. many  cafes  have  the  be- 
nefit of  clergy,  unlefs  he  has  before  re- 
teived  it.     But  in  the  cafe  of  a  flave,  the 
mode  was  formerly,  and  flill  remains  e£- 
fentially  clifFerent.     How  early  this  di£- 
tin<Slion  was  adopted  J  have  not  been  able 
tt>  diicover.     The  title  of  an  acl:  occurs, 
*  1705-    v/iikh  paffed  in  the  year  ijt>5*  for  the 

C.   II.  * 


fpeedy  and  eajy  profecution  of  fiaves  corn- 
mt&tin-g  capital  crim-es.    In  1723 -  *  the  go-  *  1723, 
vcrnor  was    authorized,    whenever    any  c*  4- 
fiave  was   committed  for  any  capita!  of- 
fence,   to  ifFue   a  fpccial    conimi'Iion  of 
oyer  and  terminer,  to  Juch  perjbns  as  hf 
fiiould  think^  fit,  the  number  being  left  to 
his  difcretion,  who  mould  thereupon  pro* 
ceed  to  the  trial  of  fuch  (lave,  taking  for1 
evidence  the  confeffion  of  the  defendant, 
the  oath- of  one  or  more  credible  witneiTcs, 
or  Rich  teflimony  of  Negroes,  mulattoes, 
or  Indians,  bond  or  free,  with  pregnant 
circumftances,    as  to  them  mould  feeni 
convincing,    without  the  foleinnity  of  a 
jury.     No  exception,  formerly,  could  be 
taken  to  the  proceedings,  on  the  trial  of 
a  flave,  t  but  that  provifo   is  omitted  in  f  1748. 
the  aft  of  1792,  and  the  juftices  moreover  c*  3I* 
feem  bound  to  allow  him  counfel  for  his 
defence,  whofe  fee  mail  be  paid  by   his 
mafter.  t    In  cafe  of  conviction,  execution  \  Edit. 
of  the  fentence  was  probably  very  fpeedily 
performed,  fince  the    acl  of  1748,  pro- 
vides that,    thereafter,   it  fliould  not  be 
performed  in  lefsthan  ten  days,  except  in 
cafe  of  infurrctfUon  or  rebellion .•  aad  fur- 
ther, that  if  the  court  be  divided  in  opi- 
nion the  accufed  mould  be  acquitted.     In 
1764,  an  ad  pa-ded,   authorizing  general, 
H  2 


in-flead  of  fpecial,   cornmiifioners  of  oycr 
*  1764.     and  terminer,*  conflicting  all  the  jut 
tices  of  any  county,  judges  for  the  trial  of 
fiaves,  committing  capital  offences,  within 
their    refpective    counties  ;    any  four  of 
whom,  one  being  of  the  quorum,  fhould 
conflitute  a  court   for  that  purpofe.     In 
1772  one  fjep  further  was  made  in  favour 
of  humanity,  by  an  act  declaring  that  no 
fiave  fhould  thereafter   be  condemned  to 
die  unlefs  four  of  the  court  fhould  concur 
t  i772-     in   opinion   of  his   guilt,  t      The    act  of 
1786,   c.  58,  confirmed,  by  that  of  1792, 
coni'titutes  the  juflices  of  every    county 
and  corporation  juflices  of  oyer  and  ter- 
t  Edit,      miner  for  the  trial  of  (laves;  I  requires 
ll9^'  C*  'fivc  juflices,  at  lealc,  to  conflitute  a  court, 
and  unanimity  in  the  court  for  his  con- 
demnation ;    allows  him  counfel  for  his 
defence,  to  be  paid  by  his  owner,  and,  I 
apprehend,    admits  him  to  object  to  the 
.proceedings  againfc  him  ;  and  finally  en- 
larges the  time  of  execution  to  thirty  days, 
initcad  of  ten  (except  in  cafes  of  confpi- 
racy,  infurrecticn,  or  rebellion),  and  ex- 
'-tends  the  benefit  of  clergy  to  him  in  all 
-ccfes,  where  any  other  perlbii  fliould  have 
-the  benefit  thereof,    except  in  the  cafes 
before  mentioned. 

To  an  attentive  obferver  thcfe  gradual. 


(     61     ) 

and  almoft  imperceptible  amendments  in 
our  jurifpru deuce  respecting  fiavcs,  will 
be  found,  upon  the  whole,  of  infinite  im- 
portance to   that    unhappy  race.       The 
mode  of  trial  in  criminal  cafes,  efpecially, 
is  rendered  infinitely  more  beneficial  to 
them,  than  formerly,  though  perhaps  fliil 
liable  to  exception  for  want  of  the  aid  of 
a  jury  :    the  folemnity  of  an  oath  adrni- 
niftered  the  moment  the  trial  commences, 
may  be  considered  as  operating  more  for- 
cibly on  the  mind,  than  a  general  oath  of 
office,    taken,   perhaps,   twenty  years  be- 
fore.    Unanimity  may  alfo  be  more  rea- 
dily  expected  to  take  place  among  five 
men,  than  among  twelve.     Thefe  objec- 
tions to  the  want  of  a  jury  are  not  with- 
out weight :  on  the  other  hand  it  may  be 
obferved,  .that  if  the  number  of  triers  be 
not  equal  to  a  full  jury,  they  may  yet  be 
-confidered  as  more  {elect ;  a  circmiiilance 
of  infinitely  greater  importance  to  the  (lave. 
The  unanimity  requifite  in  the  court  in 
-order  to  conviction,  is  a  more  happy  acqui- 
fiticn  to  the  accufed,  than  may  at  Srft 
appear  ;  the  opinions  of  the  court  muftbe 
delivered  openly,  immediately,  and  feri- 
atim,  beginning  with  the  youngefl  jadge. 
A  fingle  voice  in  favour  of  the  accufed, 
is  an  acquittal ;    for  unanimity  is  not  ne- 


(       62       ) 

ceffary,  ss  v/ith  a  jury,  to  acquit,  as  well 
as  to  condemn  :  there  is  Icfs  danger  in  this 
jnode  of  trial,  where  the  fuftragcs  are  to 
be  openly  delivered,  that  a  few  will  be. 
brought  over  to  the  opinion  of  the  majo- 
rity, as  may  too  often  happen  among  ju~ 
rors,  whole  deliberations  are  in  private, 
and  whole  impatience  of  confinement  may 
£o  farther  than  real  convidion,  to  pro- 
duce the  requisite  unanimity.     That  thi& 
happens  not  ^infrequently  in  civil  cafes, 
there  is  too  much  reafon  to  believe  ;  that 
it    may   alfo    happen  in    criminal    cafes, 
efpecially  where  the  party  accufed  is  not 
one  of  their  equals,  might,  not  unreafon- 
ably,    be    apprehended.      In   New- York, 
before  the  revolution,   a  Have  accufed  of 
a  capital  crime,  fhould  have  been  tried  by 
a  jury  if  his  mailer  required  it.     This  is, 
perhaps,  fall  the  law  of  that  flate.     Such 
a  provillcn  might  not  be  amifs  in  this  ; 
but  conil-derlng  the  ordinary  run  of  juries 
ki  the    county-courts,    I  Ihculd  prefume 
Jic  privilege  would  be  rarely  indited  up- 
en. 

Skves,  we  h-ave  feen,  are  now  entitled 
to  the  benefit  of  clergy  in  all  caaes  where 
it  is  allowed  to  any  other  offenders,  ex- 
cept in  cafes  of  coniuliing,  adviling,  or 
to.rebcI2  or  .make  in  fur  re<ftion  $ 


(     63     ) 

or  plotting  or  confpiring  to  murder  any 
perfon  ;  or  preparing,  exhibiting,  or  ad- 
miniflring  medicine  with    an    ///  intent. 
The  Tame  lenity  was  not  extended  to  them 
formerly.    The  atl  of  1748,  c.  31,  denied 
it  to  a  ilave  in  cafe  of  manslaughter  ;    or 
the  felonious  breaking  and  entering  any 
houfe,  in  the  night  time  :  or  breaking  and 
entering  any  houfe  in  the  day  time,   and 
taking  therefrom   goods  to  the  value  of 
twenty  (hillings.     The  a&  of  1764,   c.  9, 
extended  the  benefit  of  clergy,  to  a  flave 
convicted  of  the  manslaughter  of  a  (lave  ; 
and  the   aft  of  1772,  c.  9,  extended  it 
further,    to  a  {lave   convicted  of  houfe- 
breaking  in  the  night  time,    unlefs  fuch 
breaking  be  burglary  ;  in  the  latter  cafe, 
other  offenders  would  be  equally  deprived 
of  it.     But  v/hcrever  the  benefit  of  clergy 
is  allowed  to  a  Have,  the  court,  beddes 
burning   him  in  the  hand  (the  ufual  pu- 
nilhment  infii&ed   on  free  perfons)  may 
inflicl:  fuch  further   corporal  punifhment 
as  they  may  think  fit ;  *  this  alfo  feems  to  *  1794. 
be  the  law  in  the   cafe  of  free   Negroes  c*  I03* 
and  mulattoes.     By  the  ad:  of  1723,  c.  4, 
it  was  enacied,  that  when  any  Negroe  or 
mulatto?  (hall  be  found,  upon  due   proof 
made,  or  pregnant  circumftances,  to  have 
given  falfe  tefttmony,  every  fuch  offender 


C  64   ) 

mall,  'without  further  trial,  have  bis  cars' 
fucceffively  nailed  to  the  pillory  for  the 
fpace  of  an  hour,  and  then  cut  off,  and 
moreover  receive  thirty-nine  lafhes  on 
his  bare  back,  or  fuch  other  punimment 
as  the  court  mall  think  proper,  not  ex- 
tending to  life  or  limb.  This  acl,  with 
the  exception  of  the  words  pregnant  clr- 
cuinftances,  was  re- enacted  in  1792.  The 
puniflfcsient  of  perjury,  in  a  ivhite  perfon, 
is  only  a  fine  and  impriforiment.  A  flave 
coiivi'fted  of  hog-flealing,  fhall,  for  the 
firft  offence,  receive  thirty-nine  la/hes  : 
any  other  perfon  twenty-five  :  but  the  lat- 
ter is  alfo  fubjecl:  to  a  fine  of  thirty  dol- 
lars, befldcs  paying  eight  dollars  to  the 
owner  of  the  hog.  The  punifhment  for 
the  fecond  and  third  offence,  of  this  kind, 
is  the  fame  in  the  cafe  of  a  free  perfon, 
as  of  a  (lave  ;  namely,  by  the  pillory  and 
lofs  of  ears,  for  the  fecond  offence  ;  the 
third  is  declared  felony,  to  which  clergy 
is,  however,  allowed.  The  preceding 
are  the  only  positive  diftin$ions  which 
now  remain  between  the  punimment  of  a 
flave,  and  a  white  perfon,  in  thofe  cafes, 
where  the  latter  is  liable  to  a  determinate 
corporal  punimment.  But  we  muft  not 
forget,  that  many  actions,  which  are  ei- 
ther not  punifhable  at  all,  when  perpe- 


(     65"     ) 

trated  by  a  white  perfon,  or  at  molt,  by  fine 
and  imprifonment,  only,  are  liable  to  le- 
vere  corporal  punifliment,  when  done  by 
a  flave  ;  nay,  even  to  death  itlelf,  in  fome 
cafes.     To   go  abroad  without  a  written 
permimon  ;    to  keep  or   carry  a  gun,  or 
other    weapon  ;    to   utter    any   feditious 
fpeech;  to  be  prefent  at  any  unlawful  af- 
fembly  of  flaves  ;    to  lift  the  hand  in  op- 
poiition  to  a  white  perfon,  unlefs  wan- 
tonly affaulted,  are  all  offences  puniHinble 
by  whipping.  *     To  attempt  the  charity  *  179-;. 
of  a  white  woman,  forcibly,  is  punidiable  Ci  I03* 
by    difrnemberment  :     fuch    an     attempt 
would  be  a  high  mifdcmeanor  in  a  white 
free  man,  but  the  punimment  would   be 
far  fhort  of  that  of  a  flave.  r     To  admi-  -|  IbiJsn 
niflsr  medicine  without  the  order  or  con- 
fent  of  the  m after,   unlefs  it  appear  not  to 
kxvs  been  done  'with  an  ill  intent  ;  to  con- 
fait,  ad^ife,  or  confpire,  to  rebel  or  make 
infhrrection  ;    or  to  conspire,    or  plot  to 
murder  any  perfon,  we  have  feen,  are  all 
capital  offences,  from  which  the  benefit 
of  clergy  is  utterly  excluded.    But  a  bare 
intention  to  commit   a  felony,   is  not  pu- 
nifhable  in  the  cafe  of  a  free  white  man  ; 
and  even  the   attempt,    if  not   attended 
with  an  a-fhial  breach  of  the  peace,  or 
prevented  by  fach  circinrutaricc:,,  only, 
I 


(     66     ) 

as  do  not  tend  to  lelTen  the  guilt  of  tl&e 
cinder,  is  at  moit  a  mifdemjeaiiOE  by  the- 
common  law  :  and  In  flatutable  offences1 
in;  general,  to  coniuk,  advife,  and  even,  to- 
procure  any  perfon  to  commit  a>  felony, 
does  net  constitute  the  crime1  of  felony 
in,  the  ad  viler  or  procurer,.,  unlefs  the  fe- 
lony be  actually  perpetrated. 

From-  this  view  of  our  jurisprudence 
reipcding  Haves,  we  are  unavoidably  led 
to   remark,  how  frequently  the  laws  of 
nature  have  been  fet  a  fide  in-,  favour  of 
inili'cutions,  the  pure  refult  of  prejudice', 
usurpation,  and  tyranny.    "We  have  found 
aliens,  innocent,  or  indifferent,  punifh- 
able  with  a  rigour  icarcely  due  to  any,, 
but  the  molt   atrocious,  oifences  againlt 
civil,  fociety  ;    juftice   diilributed  by   an: 
unequal,  meaftire  to   the  mailer  and  the 
Have  ;    and  even  the  hand  of  mercy  ar- 
re-led,  where  rnercy  might  have  been  ex-^ 
tended-  to  tke  wretched  culprit,  had  his 
complexion  been  the  fame  with  that  of  his 
nidges:   for,  the  ihort  period  of  ten  days,. 
r-ctween  his  condemnation  and  execution, 
v/as  often •  infuflicient  to  obtain   a  pardon 
for  a -.(lave,   convicled  in  a  remote  part  of 
the  country,  wliilft  a  free  man,  condemned 
ri  the  feat  of  government,  and  tried  be- 
fore the  governor  himfelf,  in  whom  the 
power  of  pardoning  was  veiled,  had  a  re- 


(     6;     ) 

(pite  of  thirty  days  to  implore  the  cle- 
mency of  tjie  executive  authority. — It 
3nay  be  urged,  and  I  belkve  v/ith  truth, 
that  thefe  rigours  -do  not  proceed  from,  a 
fangnmary  temper  in  the  people  of  Vir- 
ginia, but  from  thofe  political  conficlera- 
tions  indifpeniahly  neceffary,  where  iiavery 
prevails  to  any  great  extent :  I  am  -m< 
over  happy  to  obferve  that  our  polic-e  re- 
fpecling  this  unhappy  clafs  of  prop-Ie,  is 
not  only  le(s  rigorous  than  formerly,  but 
perhaps  milder  than  in  any  other  coun- 
try (r)  where  there  are  ib  many  Haves, 
or  (b  large  a  proportion  of  them,  in  re- 
fpeft  to  the  free  inhabitants  :  it  is  alfo,  I 
trull,  unjufl  to  cenfiire  the  prefent  gene- 
rat  ion  for  the  exigence  of  fiavery  in  Vir- 
ginia :  for  I  think  it  unqueR  ion  ably  true, 
that  a  very  lar-e  proportion  of  our  fel- 
low-citizens lament  that  as  a  misfortune, 
which  is  imputed  to  them  as  a  reproach ; 
it  being  evident  from  what  has  been  al- 
ready ihewn  upon  the  fubjecl,  that,  ante- 

'(r)  See  Jefferfbn's  Notes,  259.- — The  Marquis  de 
ChatelleiiK's  Travels,  I  have  not  noted  the  page  ;  the 
Law  of  Retribution,  by  Granville  Sharpe,  pa.  151, 
238,  notes.  The  Juft  Limitation  of  Slavery,  by  tlcc 
fame  author;  pa.  15,  note.  Ibidem,  pa,  3?,,  50, 
Jb.  Append.  No.  2.  Encyclopedic.  Tit. 
Laws  of  Barbados,  tic. 

I  2 


(     68     ) 

to  the  revolution,  no  exertion  to 
abolilh,  or  even  to  check  the  progrefs  of> 
flavery,  in  Virginia,  could  have  received 
the  {mallei!  countenance  from  the  crown, 
without  whole  alTent  the  united  wifnes 
and  exertions  of  every  individual  here, 
would  have  been  wholly  fruitlefs  and  in-- 
efuvdual  :  it  -is,  perhaps,  alfo  demonftra- 
ble,  that  at  nc  period  fince  the  revolution, 
could  the  abolition  of  Haver  y  in  this  ft  ate 
have  been  fafely  undertaken  until  the 
foundations  of  our  newly  eflabiifhed  go- 
vernments had  been  found  capable  of  fup- 
porting  the  fabric  itfelf,  under  any  (hock, 
which  to  arduous  an  attempt  might  have 
produced.  But  thefc  obftacics  being  now 
happily  removed,  coniidcraticns  of  poli- 
cy, as  well-  as  juftice  arc!  humanity,  mull; 
evince  the  neceHity  of  eradicating  the 
evil,  before  it  becomes  impoflible  to  do 
it,  without  tearing  up  the  roots  of  civil 
focicty  with  it. 

Having;  in  the  preceding  part  of  this 
enquiry  fnewn  the  origin  and  foundation 
of  {lavcry,}  or  the  manner  in  which  men 
have  become  Haves,  ss  alfo  who  are  lia- 
ble to  be  retained  in  Slavery,  in  Virginia, 
at  prcfcnt,  with  the  legal  conferences 
attendant  upon  their  condition  ;  it  only 
remains  to  confidcr  the  mode  by  which 


iiaves  have  been  or  may  be  emancipated ; 
and  the  legal  confequences  thereof,  in 
this  ftate. — Manumiflion,  among  the  l£- 
raelites,  if  the  bondman  were  an  Hebrew, 
was  enjoined  after  ilx  years'  fervicc,  by 
the  Mofaical  lav/,  unlcfs  the  fervant  chole 
to  continue  with  his  mafter,  in  which 
cafe  the  in  after  carried  him  before  the 
judges,  and  took  an  awl,  and  thruft  it 
through  his  ear  into  the  door,  *  and  from  *  Exod. 
thenceforth  he  became  a  fervant  for  ever:  ^^  c 
but  if  he  fent  him  away  free,  he  was  15. 
bound  to  furnifh  him  liberally  out  of  his 
flock,  and  out  of  his  floor,  and  out  of  his 
\vine-prefs.  1  Among  the  Romans,  in  the  f  Ibid. 
time  of  the  commonwealth,  liberty  could 
be  conferred  only  three  ways.  By  tefta- 
ment,  by  the  c  en/us,  and  by  the  "vindific^ 
or  liclor's  rod.  A  man  was  faid  to  be 
free  by  the  cenfus,  "  liber  cenju"  when 
his  name  was  inferted  in  the  cenfor's  roll, 
with  the  approbation  of  his  mailer.  When 
he  was  freed  by  the  vindicta,  the  niaftcr 
placing  his  hand  upon  the  head  of  the 
flave,  faid  in  the  prefence  of  the  prsetor, 
it  is  my  dcfirc  that  this  man  may  be  free, 
u  kiinc  homincm  lilcrem  effe  volo  ;"  to 
which  the  praetor  replied,  I  pronounce 
him  free  after  the  manner  of  the  Romans, 
"  dico  cum  liber  um  eJJTe  more  quint  urn  "-<- 


(     70     ) 

then  the  lictor,  receiving  the  - 
(truck  the  new  freed  man  feveral  blows 
with-  it,  upon  the  head,  face,  and  back, 
after  which  his  name  was  registered  in 
the  roll  of  freed-men,  and  his  head  being 
clofe  fhaved,  a  cap  was  given  him  as  a 
*  Harris's  token  of  liberty.  *  Under  the  imperial 

Juft.  m      confutations  liberty  mip-ht  have  been  con- 
notes. 7 

ferred  by  feveral  other  methods,  as  in  the 

face   of  the  church,  in  the  prefence   of 

|  juft.      friends,  or  by  letter,  or  by  teitament.t  — 


Lilt.  lib.    But    fa  was    RO£   -m   t|ie  pOwer  of  every 

i.  tit.  5. 

Ib.  lib.  i.  mafter  to  manumit  at  will  ;  for  if  it  were 

tit.  6.  done  with  an  intent  to  defraud  creditors, 
the  aft  was  void:  that  is,  if  the  mafter 
were  infolvent  at  the  time  of  mamimiiiion, 
or  became  infolvent  by  maninnifiion,  and 
intentionally  manumitted  his  {lave  for  the 
purpofe  of  defrauding  his  creditors.  A 
minor,  under  the  age  of  twenty  years, 
V  co  aid  not  manumit  his  {lave  but  for  a  juil 
cattle  aillgned,  which  mud:  have  been  sp- 
proved  by  a  council,  confifdng  of  the 

tIb.Har.pra;  tor,  five  fenators,   and  five  knights,  t 

^*In  En8lan<1»  tlie  mode  of  enfranchifmg 
viileins  is  faid  to  have  been  thus  pre- 
fcribed  by  a  law  of  William  theConqueror  . 
:  If  any  peribn  is  willing  to  enfranchife 
"  hisflave,  let  him,  with  his  right  hand, 
C£  deliver  the  Have  to  the  (lieriff  in  a  full 


(     71     ) 

"  county,  proclaim  him  exempt  from  the 
cc  bond  of  fervitude  by  manumiiiior>, 
"  fhe\v  him  open  gates  and  ways,  and 
u  deliver  him  free  arms,  to  wit,  a  lance 
cc  and  a  fword  ;  thereupon  he  is  a  free 


*  —  But  after  that  period  free-  *  Harm's 
dom   was   more  generally    conferred   by  note's^ 
deed,    of  which  Mr.  Harris,   in  his  notes 
upon  Juilinian,    has    furniihed  a  prece- 
dent - 

lii  what  manner  manumiillon  was  per- 
formed  in  this   country  during  the   firil 
century  after  the  introdu&ion  of  flavery 
does  not  appear  :  the  a&  of  1668,  before 
mentioned,  .    fliews  it  to  have  been  prac-  f  Ante, 
tifed  before  that  period.     In  172^  an  adt  P"  3<5* 
was  paffed,  prohibiting  the  manumidion 
of  (laves,   upon  any  pretence  whatfoever7 
except   for  meritorious  fervices,    to  be 
adjudged,   and  allowed  by  the   governor 
and  council    .  This  claufe  was  re-enacled  t  i723-c- 
in   1748,   and    continued  to  be  the  law,  '" 
until    after    the    revolution    was   acconi- 
plilhed.       The  number  of  manumldions 
undsr   fuch   reflriftions   mufc   necefTarily 
have   been  very   few.     In  May   1782  an 
aft  paffed  authorizing,  generally,  the  ma- 
numiflion  of  (laves,  but  requiring  fuch  as 
might   be  fet  free,    not    being  of  found 
mind  or  body,  or  being  above  the  age  of 


C     72     ) 

forty-five  years,  or  males  under  twenty- 
one,  cr  females  under  eighteen,  to  be 
fupported  by  the  perfon  liberating  them, 
*  May  or  out  of  his  efl^te.  *  The  aft  of  manu- 
miiliGn  may  be  performed  either  by  will, 
or  by  deed,  under  the  hand  and  feal  of 
the  party,  acknowledged  by  him,  or 
proved  by  two  witneffes  in  the  court  of 
the  county  where  he  refides.  There  is 
reafon  to  believe  that  great  numbers  have 
been  emancipated  fince  the  palling  of  this 
adl.  By  the  cenfhs  of  1791  it  appears 
that  the  number  of  free  Negroes,  mulat- 
toes  and  Indians  in  Virginia,  was  then 
12,866.  It  would  be  a  large  allowance, 
to  fuppoie  that  there  were  1800  free  Ne- 
groes and  mulatto es  in  Virginia  when  the 
act  took  effect  ;  fo  that  upwards  of  ten 
thoufand  mufl  have  been  indebted  to  it 
for  their  freedom,  (s)  The  number  of 
Indians  and  their  dcfcendants  in  Virginia 

(s)  There  are  more  free  Negroes  and  mulattoes  in 
Virgiaia  alone,  than  are  to  be  found  in  the  four  New- 
England  dates,  and  Vermont  in  addition  to  them. 
The  progrefs  of  emancipation  in  this  ftate  is  therefore 
much  greater  than  cur  JLaflern  brethren  may  at  firft 
fupuofe.  There  are  only  1087  free  Negroes  and 
mulattoes  in  the  States  of  New-York,  New-Jerfey 
Slid.  Penr.fylvania,  more,  than  in  Virginia.  Thofe  who 
take  a  fubjcct  in  the  grofs,  have  little  idea  of  the  refult 
of  £ii  cxaci  fcrutiny.  Out  of  20,348  inhabitants  oa 


C  73     ) 

at  prefent,  is  too  fmall  to  require  particu- 
lar notice.  The  progrefs  of  emancipa- 
tion in  Virginia,  is  at  this  tirnc  continual, 
but  not  rapid  ;  a  fecond  cenfus  w ill  enable 
us  to  form  a  better  judgment  of  it  than  at 
prefent.  The  aft  pafted  in  1792  accords 
in  fbme  degree  with  the  Juflinian  code,  *  *  *79-{~ 
by  providing  that  flavcs  emancipated 
may  be  taken  in  execution  to  fatisfy  any 
debt  contracted  by  the  pcrfon  emanci- 
pating them,  before  flich  emancipation  is 
made,  (t) 

the  Eaftern  Shore  of  Virginia  1185  \v2re  free  Negroes 
and  mulattoes  when  the  ccnfus  was  taken.  The  num- 
ber is  fmce  much  augmented. 

(t)  The  a&  ~cf  1795.  c.  ir.  encrb,  that  any 
perfon  held  in  flavcry  may  make  complaint  to  a  mo 
giilrate,  or  to  the  court  of  the  diilriet  county  or  cor- 
poration wherein  he  refides,  and  not  elfewhere.  The 
rnagiftratc,  if  the  complaint  be  made  to  him,  fhall  ifiue 
his  warrant  to  fummon  the  owner  before  him,  and 
compel  him  to  give  bond  and  fecurity  to  fuffer  the 
complainant  to  appear  at  the  next  court  to  petition  the 
court  to  be  admitted  to  fue  m  forma  paupcr'is.  If  the 
owner  refufe,  the  magiilrate  fhall  order  the  complainant 
into  the  caftody  of  the  officer  fervmg  the  warrant,  at  the 
expence  of  the  matter,  who  fhall  keep  him  until  the 
fitting  of  the  court,  and  then  produce  him  before  it. 
Upon  petition  to  the  court,  if  the  court  be  fatisfied 
as  to  the  material  facts,  they  fliall  aiTign  the  complainaiit 
council,  who  fliall  (late  the  facls  with  his  opinion  thereon 
to  the  court  ;  and  unlefs  from  the  circumilanccG  fo 

K 


(     74     ) 

A.moiig  the  Romans,  the  Ubertini,   or 

freedmen,  were  formerly  diftmguifhed  by 

*Juft.      a  threefold  divifion.  *     They  fometimes 

Inft.  lib.        -i  .    .        .        . 

i.  tit.  5.  obtalnecl  what  was  called  the  greater  li- 
berty, thereby  becoming  Roman  citizens. 
To  this  privilege,  thofe  who  were  enfran- 
chifed  by  teftament,  by  the*  cenfus,  or  by 
the  vindidia,  appear  to  have  been  alone 
admitted :  fometimes  they  obtained  the 
lefTer  liberty  only,  and  became  Latins  ; 
wkofe  condition  is  thus  defcribed  by  Ju£- 
tinian.  (c  They  never  enjoyed  the  right 
"  of  faccedion  [to  cftates]. — For  al- 
"  though  they  led  the  lives  of  free  men, 
"  yet  with  their  lail  breath  they  loft  both 
"  their  lives  and  liberties  ;  for  their  po£- 
4C  feflions,  like  the  goods  of  flavcs,  were 
f  Harris's  "  detained  by  the  manurhittor."  t  Some- 
3.  tit,  8.  tmles  tlaeX  obtained  only  the  inferior  liber- 

ftated,  and  the  opinion  thereon  given,  the  court  {hall 
fee  mantfcfl  reufon  td  deny  tkeir  interference^  they  fliall 
order  the  clerk  to  iffue  prccefa  againft  the  owner,  and 
the  complainant  (hall  remain  in  the  cuflody  of  the 
(heriff  until  the  owner  (hall  give  bond  and  fecurity  to 
have  him  forthcoming  to  anfwer  the  judgment  of  the 
court.  Anil  by  the  general  law  in  cafe  of  pauper's 
fuits,  the  complainants  ftiail  have  writs  of  fubpcna 
gratis  ;  and  by  the  practice  of  the  courts,  he  is  per- 
mitted to  attend  the  taking  the  depcfitions  of  witueiTes, 
and  go  and  come  freely  to  and  from  court,  for  the 
jirofecution  of  his  fuit. 


(     75     ) 

ty,  being  called  dcditltii :  fucii  were  (laves 
who  had  been  condemned  as  criminals, 
and  afterwards  obtained  manumiflion 
through  the  indulgence  of  their  mailers : 
their  conditions  was  equalled  with  that 
of  conquered  revolters,  whom  the  Ro- 
mans called,  in  reproach,  dsdititii^  quid 
fe  Juaque  omnia  dediderunt :  but  all  thefe 
dillindions  were  abolifhed  by  Juftinian,  *  *, Inft-  . 
by  whom,  all  freed  men  in  general  were  ^.  r  3. 
made  citizens  of  Rome,  without  regard 
to  the  form  of  manumiilion. — In  England, 
the  prefenting  the  villein  with  free  arms, 
fe.ems  to  have  been  the  fymbol  of  his  re- 
itoration  to  all  the  rights  which  a  feuda- 
tory was  entitled  to.  With  us,  we  have 
feen  that  emancipation  does  not  confer 
the  rights  of  citizenship  on  the  perfon 
emancipated  ;  on  the  contrary,  both  he 
and  his  poftcrity,  of  the  fame  complexion 
with  himfelf,  muft  always  labour  under 
many  civil  incapacities.  If  he  is  abfolvetl 
from  perfonal  rcllraint,  or  corporal  pu- 
nifhment,  by  a  mafter,  yet  the  laws  re- 
flrain  his  aftions  in  many  imlances,  where 
there  is  none  upon  a  free  white  man.  If 
hs  can  maintain  a  fuit,  he  cannot  be  a 
witnefs,  a  juror,  or  .a  judge  in  any  con- 
troverfy  between  one  of  his  own  com- 
plexion and  a  white  perfon.  If  he  can 
K  ± 


(     76     ) 

Acquire  property  in  lands,  he  cannot  ex- 
ercife  the  right  of  fufFrage,  which  fuch  a 
property  would  confer  on  his  former  m af- 
ter ;  much  lefs  can  he  afiiil  in  making, 
thofe  lnws  by  which  he  is  bound.  Yet, 
even  under  thefe  difabilities,  his  prefent 
condition  bears  an  enviable  pre-eminence 
over  his  former  rtate.  PofTcmng  the  li- 
berty of  loco-motion,  which  was  formerly 
denied  him,  it  is  in  his  choice  to  fubmit 
to  that  civil  inferiority,  infeparably  at- 
tached to  his  condition  in  this  country, 
or  feck  fonie  more  favourable  climate, 
where  all  diftinclions  between  men  are 
either  totally  abolifhed,  or  lefs  regarded 
than  in  this. 

The  extirpation  of  ilavery  from  the 
United  States,  is  a  tail;  equally  arduous 
and  momentous.  To  red  ore  the  bleffings 
:of  liberty  tq  near  a  million  (u)  of  op- 
preiTed  individuals,  who  have  groaned 
under  the  yoke  of  bondage,  and  to  their 
defcendants,  is  an  object,  which  thofe 
who  trnil  in  Providence,  will  be  con- 
vinced would  not  be  unaided  by  the  di- 
vine Author  of  our  being,  ihould  we  in- 
voke his  blelling  upon  our  endeavours. 

(u)  The  number  of  flaves  in  the  United  States  at 
the  time  of  the  late    cenfus,    was   fomething  under 

•700/000. 


(     77      ) 

Yet  human  prudence  forbids  that  we 
fhould  precipitately  engage  in  a  work  of 
fuch  hazard  as  a  general  andfiinuitaneous 
emancipation.  The  mind  of  man  muft 
in  fomc  mcafure  be  formed  for  his  future, 
condition.  The  early  iinprcfiions  of  obe- 
dience and  fubmiiilon;  which  flaves  have 
received  among  us,  and  the  no  lefs  habi- 
tual arrogance  and  aflUmption  of  fuperi- 
ority,  among  the  whites,  contribute,  c~ 
qually,  to  unfit  the  former  for  freedom^ 
and  the  latter  for  equality,  (v)  To  expel 

(•D)  Mr.  JefFerfon  moil  forcibly  paints  the  unhappy 
influence  on  the  manners  of  the  people  produced  by 
the  exiftence  of  flavety  amqng  us.  The  whole  com- 
merce between  mailer  and  (lave,  fays  he,  is  a  perpetual 
exercife  of  the  moil  boifterous  paGions,  the  moft 
unremitting  defp3tifm  on  the  one  part,  and  degrad- 
ing fubmilfions  on  the  other.  Our  children  fee 
this,  and  learn  to  imitate  it  ;  for  man  is  an  imitative 
animal.  This  quality  is  the  germ  of  education  in  him. 
From  his  cradle  to  his  grave  he  is  learning  what  he  fee3 
others  do.  If  a  parent  had  no  other  motive  either  in 
his  own  philanthropy  or  his  felf -love,  for  retraining 
the  intemperance  of  pafiion  towards  his  flave^  it  fhould. 
always  be  a  fufiicient  one  that  his  child  is  prefent.  But 
generally  it  is  not  fufficient.  The  parent  ftorms,  the 
child  looks  on, -catches  the  lineaments  of  wrath,  puts 
on  the  fame  airs  in  th£  circle  of  finaiier  flaves,  gives  a 
loofe  to  his  worfl  of  paflions ;  and  thus  nurfed,  eilr- 
cated,  and  daily  exercife d  in  tyranny,  canno.t  but  be 
itamped  by  it  with  cdicus  peculiarities.  The  man 


(     7S     ) 

them  all  at  once,  from  the  United  States, 
would  in  faft  be  to  devote  them  only  to 

mull  be  a  prodigy  who  can  retain  his   manners  and 
morals  undepraved  by  fuch  circumftances.     And  with 
what  execrations  would  the  ftatefman  be  loaded,  who 
permitting  one  half  the  citizens  thus  to  trample  on  the 
rights  of  the  other,  transforms  them  into  defpots,  and 
thefe  into  enemies,  deftroysthe  morals  of  the  one  part, 
and  the  amor  patriae  of  the  other.     For  if  a  flave  can 
liave  a  country  in  this  world,  it  mull  be  any  other  ia 
preference  to  that  in  which  he  is  born  to  live  and  la- 
bour for  another  ;  in  which  he  muft  lock  up  the  facul- 
ties of  his  nature,  contribute  as  far  as  depends  on  his 
individual  endeavours  to  the  evanifhment  of  the  Ionian 
race,  or  entail  his  own  miserable  condition  an  the  end- 
lefs  generations  proceeding  from  him.     With  the  mo- 
Tals  of  the  people,    their  induliry  alfo,--is  deftroyed. 
For  in  a  warm  climate,  no  man  will  labour  for  himfelf 
who   can  make  another  labour  for  him.     This  is  fb 
true,  that  of  the  proprietors  of  (laves  a  very  fmall  pro- 
portion indeed  are  ever  feen  to  labour.     And  can  the 
liberties  of  a  nation  be   ever  thought  fecure  when  we 
have  removed  their  only  firm  bafis,  a  conviction  in  the 
minds  of  the  people,  that  thefe  liberties  are  of  the  gift 
of  God  ?     That  they  are  not  to  be  violated  but  with 
his  wrath  ?     Indeed  I   tremble  for  my  country  when 
I  reflcft  that  God  is  juft:  that  his  juftice  -cannot  fleep 
for  ever  :  that  confidcring  numbers,  nature,  and  natu- 
ral means  only,  a  revolution  of  the  wheel  of  fortune, 
an -exchange  of  fituation  is  among  pdfiible  events  :  that 
it  may  become  probable  by  fupernatural  interference  ! 
The  Almighty  has  no  attribute  which  can  take  fide 
v,'ith  us  in  fuch  a  conteft. — But  it  is  impoffible  to  be 
tsmpr/ste  and  to  purfue  this  fubjecl  through  the  va- 


(     79     ) 

a  lingering  death  by  famine,  by  clifcafc, 

and  ether  accumulated  rniferics  :    cc  We 

cc  h-ave  in  hiftory  but  one  picture  of  a  li- 

u  inilar  enterprise,  and  there  we  fee  it 

u  was  neceflary  not  only  to  open  the  fea 

"  by  a  miracle,  for  them  to  pafs,  but  more 

cc  neceflary  to  clofe  it  again  to   prevent 

"  their  return.  *  To  retain  them  among  *  Letter 

us,    would    be    nothing    more    than   to  ™°™  Jas< 

Sullivan, 

throw  fo  many  of  the  human  race  upon  Efq.  to 

the  earth  without  the  means  of  fubililence:  pr*  Bel" 

knap. 

they  would  foon  become  idle,  profligate, 
and  miferable.  Unfit  for  their  ne\v  con- 
dition, and  unwilling  to  return  to  their 
former  laborious  courfe,  they  would  be- 
come the.  caterpillars  of  the  earth,  and 
the  tigers  of  the  human  race.  The  recent 
hiftory  of  the  French  Weft  Indies  exhibits 
a  melancholy  picture  of  the  probable  con- 
fequences  of  a  general,  and  momentary 

rious  confiderations  of  policy,  of  morals,  of  hiftory, 
.natural  and  civil.  We  muft  be  contented  to  hope 
they  will  force  their  way  into  every  one's  mind.  I 
think  a  change  already  perceptible,  fince  the  origin 
of  the  prefent  revolution.  The  fpirit  of  the  mailer  is 
abating,  that  of  the  flavc  rifing  from  the  duft  ;  his 
condition  mollifying  ;  the  way  I  hope  preparing,  un- 
4er  the  aufpices  of  Heaven,  for  a  total  emancipation, 
and  that  this  is  difpofed  in  the  order  of  events,  to  be 
-with  the  confent  of  their  matters,  rather  than  by  their 
•xtirpation.  Notes  on  Virginia,  298. 


emancipation  in  any  of  the  flates,  where 
Slavery  has  made  confiderable  progrefs. 
In  MufTacliufetts  the  abolition  of  it  was 
efre&cd  by  a  fingle  flroke  ;  a  claufe  in 
*  Er.  their  coniiitution  :  *  but  the  whites  at 
that  time,  were  as  fixty-five  to  one,  in 
proportion  to  the  blacks.  The  whole 
number  of  free  perfons  in  the  United 
States,  fouth  of  Delaware  ftate,  are 
1,235,829,  and  there  are  648,439  (laves  ; 
the  proportion  being  lefs  than  two  to  one. 
Of  the  cultivators  of  the  earth  in  the  fame 
diftricl,  it  is  probable  that  there  are  four 

Haves  for  one  free  white  man. To  di£- 

charge  the  former  from  their  prefent  condi- 
tion, would  be  attended  with  an  immediate 
general  famine,  in  thofe  parts  of  the  United 
States,  from  which  not  all  the  produ&i- 
cns  of  the  other  {rates,  could  deliver 
them  ;•  finiilar  evils  might  reafonably  be 
apprehended  from  the  adoption  of  the 
me af ure  by  any  one  of  the  fouthern  ftates ; 
for  in  all  of  them  the  proportion  of  Haves 
is  too  great,  not  to  be  attended  with  ca- 
lamitous effects,  if  they  were  immediately 
fet  free.  ("^)  Thefe  are  ferious,  I  had 

(ftp)  Whet  >s  here  advanced  is  not  to  be  understood 
as  implying  an  opinion  that  the  labour  of  flaves  is  more 
produ&ive  than  that  of  freemen. — The  author  of  the 
Treatife  en  the  Wealth  of  Nation:.,  informs  us,  "  That 


almoft  faid  unfurmountable  obflacles,  to 
a  general,  (miultaneous  emancipation. — 
There  are  other  confiderations  not  to  be 
difregarded.  A  great  part  of  the  property- 
of  individuals  conflfts  in  Jlaves.  The 
laws  have  fan  cloned  this  fpecles  of  pro- 
perty. Can  the  laws  take  away  the  pro- 
perty of  an  individual  without  his  own 
confent,  or  without  a  juft  compcnjatioii  r'J 
\Vill  thofe  who  do  not  hold  (laves  agree 
to  be  taxed  to  make  this  compenfation  ? 
Creditors  alfo,  who  have  trufled  their 
debtors  upon  the  faith  of  this  vifible  pro- 
perty will  be  defrauded.  If  jiiftice  de- 
mands the  emancipation  of  the  flavc,  me- 
alfo,  under  theje  circumRanccs,.  fecins  to.- 
plead  for  the  owner,  and  for  his  creditor. 
The  claims  of  nature,  it  will  be  faid  are 
ftronger  than  thofe  which  arife  from  fo- 
cial  inflitutions,  only.  I  admit  it,  but 
nature  alfo  dictates  to  us  to  provide  for 
our  own  fafety,  and  authorizes  all  ncceffu/y 

"  it  appears  from  the  experience  of  all  ages  and  na- 
tf  tions,  tliat  the  work  done  by  freemen  comes  cheaper 
<£  in  the  end  than  that  done  by  flares.  That  it  is 
"  found  to  do  fo,  even  in  Bofton,  New- York  and 
"  Philadelphia,  where  the  wages  of  common  labour  arc 
"  very  high."  Vol.  I.  pa.  123.  Lond.  edit.  oft. 
Admitting  this  conclufion,  it  would  not  remove  the 
objection  that  emancipated  fhves  would  net  willingly 
labour. 

L 


.ares  for  that  purpofe.  And  we  have 
!;:cwn  that  oiir  own  fecurity,  nay,  our 
very  exigence,  might  be  endangered  b£ 
the  hafty  adoption  *>f  any  meafure  for  th6 
immediate  relief  of  the  w>Wd>  of  this  tiri- 
race.  Mtfft  we  then  quit  the  fuh- 

,  in  defpftlr  of  the  fuccefs  of  any  pro- 
for  the  amendment  of  their,  as  well 
as  our  own,  condition?  I  think  not.— 
Stf  fctiuotifly  x$  I  feel  nly  mind  oppofed  to 
a  fimultaneous  emancipation,  for  the  reg- 
ions akeady  mentioned,  the  abolition 
of  fiavery  in  th£  United  States,  and  efpe1- 
cially  in  that  dat-e-,  to  which  I  am  attached 
by  every  tie  that  nature  and  fociety  fbfm/ 
is  ncrw.  lAyftrfi,  and  will  probably  be  my 
Tait,  expiring  wlftu  But  here  let  me 
avoid  the  imputation  of  inconfiftency,  by 
cbfervhig,  that  the  abolition  of  flavery 
may  be  effecled  without  the  emancipation 
of  a  (ingfe  flave  \  without  depriving  any 
r.ian  of  the  property  which  he  poflejjes, 
and  without  defrauding  a  creditor  who 
has  trufied  him  on  the  faith  of  that  pro- 
perty. Tlae  experiment  in  that  mode 
&as  already  been  begun  in  fame  of  our 
lifter  ftates.  Pennfylvania,  under  the 
aufpices  of  the  immortal  Franklin,  (x) 


(y)  Dd^or  Fnrrtkliii,  it  is  faid,  drew  the  bill  for 
the  gradual  abolition  of  flavcry  in  Pennfylvania. 


begun  the  work  of  gradual  abolition  of 
flavery  in  the  year  1780,  by  cnlifting  na- 
ture herfelf,  on  the  fide  of  humanity. 
Cpnnefticut  followed  the  example  four 
years  after,  fjj  NewYork  vesy  Itfely 
made  an  efiay  which  wUcaFrie.d,  by  a  very 
inconsiderable  majority  .  Mr,  Jefferfbn  hv 
forms  us,  that  the  committee  e.f  revifars, 
of  which  he  was  3roof$ber>  had  prepared 
a  bill  for  the  emancipation  of  all  f  laves 
born  after  pafling  that  aft*  Thh  is  con- 
formable to  the  pennfylvania  and  Can- 
ne&ieut  law?.  —  Why  the  meafure  was 
not  brought  forward  in  the  general  af- 
fembly  J  have  never  he.ard>  PoiTibly  be- 
caufe  objections  were  forefeen  to  that 
part  of  the  bill  which  relates  to  the  dif- 
pofal  of  the  blacks,  after  they  had  attained 
a  certa.ii!  age.^J  It  certainly  fe^ms  li- 


(y)  It  is  probable  that  fimilar  laws  have  been  pafied 
in  fome  other  ftates  ;  but  I  have  not  been  able  to  pro- 
cure a  note  of  them. 

("z.)  The  objeft  of  the  amendment  propofed  to  be 
offered  to  the  legiflature,  was  to  emancipate  all  flaves 
born  after  a  certain  period  ;  and  further  dire  Aing  that 
they  ftiould  continue  with  their  parents  to  a  certain 
age,  then  be  brought  up,  at  the  public  expence,  to 
tillage,  arts,  or  fciences,  according  to  their  geniufes, 
till  the  females  mould  be  eighteen,  and  the  males 
twenty-one  years  of  age,  when  they  mould  be  colonized 
to  fuch  a  place  as  the  circumftances  of  the  time  fliou/d 
L  2 


-able  to  many,  both  as  to  the  policy  and 
the  practicability  of  it.     To  eftablifh  fuch 
a   colony  in  the  territory  of  the  United 
States,    would  probably  lay  the  founda- 
tion ofinteiline  wars,  which  would  ter- 
minate   only  in  their  extirpation,    or   fi- 
nal   expulfion.       To   attempt    it    in   any 
other  quarter  of  the  globe  would  be  at- 
tended with  the  utmofl  cruelty  to  the  co- 
lonifls,   themfelves,    and  the   deitruclion 
of  their  whole  race.     If  the  plan  were  at 
this  moment  in  operation,  it  would  require 
the  annual  exportation  of  12,00^0  perfons. 
This  requifite  number  muft,  for  a  feries 
of  years  be  confiderably  increafed,   in  or- 
der to  keep  pace  with  the  increafmg  popu- 
lation of  thcfc  people.   In  twenty  years  it 
would  amount  to  upwards  of  twenty  thou- 
iand  perfons  ;    which  is  half  the  number 
which  are   now  fuppofed  to  be  annually 

•render  moft  proper  ;  fending  them  out  with  arms, 
implements  of  houfehold  and  of  the  handicraft  arts, 
feeds,  pairs  of  the  ufeful  domeftic  animals,  &c.  to 
.declareth  em  a  free  and  independent  people,  and  ex- 
tend to  them  our  alliance  and  protection,  till  they  mall 
.haveacquired  ilrength  ;  and  to  fend  vefitls  at  the  feme 
time  to  other  parts  of  the  world  for  an  equal  number 
of  white  inhabitants  ;  to  induce  whom  to  migrate  hi- 
ther, proper  encouragements  fhculd  be  propofed. 
Notes  on  Virginia,  251. 


(     85     ) 

•exported  from  Africa. — Where  would  a 
fund  to  fupport  this  expencc  be  found  f 
Five  times  the  prefent  revenue  of  the 
ftate  would  barely  defray  the  charge  of 
their  pafTage.  Where  provifions  for  their 
fupport  after  their  arriv  al  ?  Where  thofe 
neceflaries  which  inufl  prefer ve  them  from 
pcrifhing  ? — Where  a  territory  fufficient 
to  fupport  them  ? — Or  where  could  they 
be  received  as  friends,  and  not  as  invad- 
ers ?  To  colonize  them  in  the  United 
States  might  feem  lefs  difficult.  If  the 
territory  to  be  afligned  them  were  beyond 
the  fettlements  of  the  whites,  would  they 
not  be  put  upon  a  forlorn  hope  againft 
the  Indians  ?  Would  not  the  expence  of 
tranfporting  them  thither,  and  fupporting 
them,  at  leaft  for  the  firft  and  fecond 
year,  be  alfo  far  beyond  the  revenues  and 
abilities  of  the  ftate  ?  The  expence  at- 
tending a  fmall  army  in  that  country  hath 
been  found  enormous.  To  tranfport  as 
many  colonifts,  annually,  as  we  have 
(hewn  were  neceiTary  to  eradicate  the 
evil,  would  probably  require  five  times 
as  much  money  as  the  fupport  of  fuch  an 
army.  But  the  expence  would  not  ftop 
there :  they  muft  be  affifted  and  fupport ed 
at  leaft  for  another  year  after  their  arrival 
in  their  new  fettlcments.  Suppofe  them 


(     36     ) 

arrived.  Illiterate  and  ignorant  as  they 
arc,  is  it  probable  that  they  would  be  ca- 
pable of  inftituting  fuch  a  government, 
in  their  new  colony,  as  would  be  necef- 
fary  for  their  own  internal  happinefs,  or 
to  fecure  them  from  deilruftjon  from 
without  ?  European  emigrants,  from 
whatever  country  they  arrive,  have  been 
accuftomed  to  the  reftraint  of  laws,  and 
torefpea  for  government.  Thefe  people, 
accuftomcd  to  he  ruled  with  a,  rod  of  iron, 
will  not  eafily  fubmit  to  milder  reftraints. 
They  would  become  hordes  of  vagabonds, 
robbers  and  murderers.  Without  the  aids 
of  an  enlightened  policy,  morality,  or 
religion,  what  elft  could  be  expected 
from  their  ftill  favage  ftate,  and  debafed 
condition  ? — "  But  why  not  retain  and 
u  incorporate  the  blacks  into  the  flute  f" 
This  queftion  has  been  well  anfwered  by 
Mr.  Jcfferfon,  (a)  and  who  is  there  fp 

(a)  It  will  probably  be  afked,  why  not  retain  the 
blacks  among  us  and  incorporate  them  into  the  flate  ? 
Deep-rooted  prejudices  entertained  by  the  whites  ;  ten 
thoufand  recolle&ions  by  the  blacks,  of  the  injuries  they 
have  fuftained  ;  new  provocations  ;  the  real  diftiaftions 
which  n&lurc  has  made  ;  and  many  other  eircumftances 
will  divide  us  into  parties  and  produce  convulfions, 
Xvhich  will  probably  never  end  but  in  the  extermi- 
nation of  one  or  the  other  race.  To  thefe  objections 
which  are  political  may  be  added  others  which  are 


C     *7     ) 

frtffft  prejudices   airtong  us,  as   can- 
didly to  declare  that  he  has  none  againft 

physical  and  ifteral.  The  firft  difference  which  ftnkcs 
us  13  that  of  colour. — Sec.  The  circumftance  of  fupe- 
rior  beauty  is  thought  worthy  attention  in  the  propa- 
gation of  our  horfes,  dogs,  and  other  domeftic  ani- 
mals;  Why  not  in  that  of  man  ?  &c.  In  general 
their  exigence  appears  to  participate  more  of  fenfation 
than  reflection.  Comp ?.rmg  them  by  their  faculties  of 
memory,  reafon  and  imagination,  it  appears  to  me 
that  in  memory  they  are  equal  to  the  whites  ;  in  rea- 
fon much  inferior  ;  that  in  imagination  they  arc  dull, 
taftelefs  and  anamolous.  &c.  The  improvement  of 
the  blacks  in  body  and  mind,  in  the  firft  in&arice  of 
their  mixture  with  the  whites,  has  been  obfcrved  by 
every  one,  ar/d  proves  that  their  inferiority  is  Hot  the 
effect  merely  of  their  condition  of  life.  We  know  that 
among  the  Romans,  about  the  Auguftan  age,  cfpeci- 
ally,  the  condition  of  their  flaves  was  much  more  de- 
plorable, than  that  of  the  blacks  on  the  continent  of 
America.  Yet  among  the  Romans  their  flaves  were 
often  their  rareft  artifts.  They  excelled  t6o  in  fcicncc, 
infomuch  as  to  be  ufually  employed  as  tutors  to  their 
matters'  children.  Epi&etus,  Terence,  and  Phccdrua 
Were  flaves.  But  they  were  of  the  race  of  whites.  It 
is  not  their  condition  then,  but  nature,  whic!i  has 
produced  the  diftinftion.  The.  opinion  that  they  Sit 
inferior  in  the  faculties  of  reafon  and  imagination,  muit 
be  hazarded  with  great  diffidence.  To  juftify  a  general 
conclufion  requires  many  obfervations.  &c. — I  advance 
it  therefore  as  a  fufpicion  only,<-that  the  blacks,  whe- 
ther originally  a  diftinc\  race,  or  made  diftinft  by  time 
and  circumftances,  are  inferior  to  the  whites  both  in 
the  endowments  of  body  and  mind.  5cc.  This  un- 


(     88     > 

facli  2  rneafurc  ?  The  recent  fcenes  tran£- 
adted  in  the  French  colonies  in  the  "Weft 
Indies  are  enough  to  make  one  fhudder 
with  the  apprehendon  of  realizing  fimilar 
calamities  in  this  country.  Such  proba- 
bly would  be  the  event  of  an  attempt  to 
fiiiotlier  thofc  prejudices  which  have  been 
cherifhed  for  a  period  of  almofl  two  cen- 
turies. Thofe  who  fecretly  favour,  whilft 
they  afFeft  to  regret,  domcftic  flavery, 
contend  that  in  abolifhing  it,  wre  mufl  alfo 
abolifh  that  fcion  from  it  which  I  have 
denominated  civil  uavery.  That  there 
mult  be  no  diflinclion  of  rights  ;  that  the 
tlefcendants  of  Africans,  as  men,  have  an 
equal  claim  to  all  civil  rights,  as  the  de- 
fcendants  of  Europeans  ;  and  upon  being 
delivered  from  the  yoke  of  bondage  have 

fortunate  difference  of  colour,  and  perhaps  of  faculty, 
is  a  powerful  obftacle  to  the  emancipation  of  thef& 
people.  Among  the  Romans  emancipation  required 
but  one  effort.  The  flave,  when  made  free,  might 
mix  with,  without  ftaining,  the  blood  of  his  mafter* 
But  with  us  a  fecond  is  neceflary,  unknown  to  hiftory. 
—See  the  paffage  at  length,  Notes  on  Virginia,  page 
252  to  265. 

«  In  the  prefent  cafe,  it  is  not  only  the  flave  who 
"  Is  beneath  his  matter,  it  is  the  Negroe  who  is  be- 
"  neath  the  white  mnn.  No  aft  of  enfranchifement 
"  can  efface  this  unfortunate  diftinftion."  Chatel- 
leux's  Travels  in  America. 


(     89     ) 

a.  right  to  be  admitted  to  all  the  privileges 
of  a  citizen. — But  have  not  men  when 
they  enter  into  a  ft  ate  of  Ibciety,  a  right 
to  admit,  or  exclude  any  dcfcription  of 
perfons,  as  they  think  proper  ?  If  it  be 
true,  as  Mr.  Jerlrerfon  feenis  to  fiippofe, 
that  the  Africans  are  really  an  inferior 
race  of  mankind,  (b)  will  not  found  po- 
licy advife  their  excludon,  from  a  f6ciety 
In  which  they  have  not  yet  been  admitted 
to  participate  in  civil  rights  ;  and  even  to 
-guard  aga'mit  fuch  admidlor;,  at  any  future 
period)  fince  it  may  eventually  depreciate 
the  whole  national  character  ?  And  if 
prejudices  have  taken  fuch  deep  root  iii 
our  minds,  as  to  render  it  intpbllible  to 
eradicate  this  opinion,  ougjit  not  fo  ge- 
neral an  error,  if  it  be  one,  to  be  refpecl- 
ed  ?  Shall  we  not  relieve  the  ncceiiities 
of  the  naked  difcafed  beggar,  unlefs  we 
will  invite  him  to  a  feat  at  oitr  table  ;  nor 
alford  him  {belter  from  the  inclemencies 
of  the  night  air,  unlefs  we  admit  him  alfo 

(I)  The  celebrated  David  Hume,  in  his  Efiay  on 
National  Character,  advances  the  fame  opinion  ;  Doc- 
tor Bcattie,  in  his  EHby  on  Truth,  controverts  it  with 
many  per.  urrjnts.  Era'ly  prcjr.diocG,  had  we 

more  falisfh&ory  information  than  we  c?.n  pofiibly  pcf- 
fefs  on  the  fubjecl:  at  prefent,  \vould  render  an  inha- 
bitant of  a  country  where  Negroc  fkvery  prevails,  an 
improper  umpire  between  them. 

M 


(     90     ) 

to  mare  our  bed  ?  To  deny  that  we  ought 
to  abolifa  flavery,  without  incorporating 
the  Negroes  into  the  ftate,  and  admitting 
them  to  a  full  participation  of  all  our 
civil  and  focial  rights,  appears  to  me  to 
reft  upon  a  ilmilar  foundation.  The  ex- 
periment fo  far  as  it  has  been  already 
made  among  us,  proves  that  the  emanci- 
pated blacks  are  not  ambitious  of  civil 
rights.  To  prevent  the  generation  of 
fuch  an  ambition,  appears  to  comport 
with  found  policy  ;  for  if  it  mould  ever 
rear  its  head,  its  partizans,  as  well  as  its 
opponents,  will  be  enlifted  by  nature  her- 
felf,  and  always  ranged  in  formidable 
array  againft  each  other.  We  muft  there- 
fore endeavour  to  find  fome  middle  courfe, 
between  the  tyrannical  and  iniquitous  po- 
licy which  holds  fo  many  human  creatures 
in  a  ftate  of  grievous  bondage,  and  that 
which  would  turn  loofe  a  numerous, 
ftarving,  and  enraged  banditti,  upon  the 
innocent  defcendants  of  their  former  op- 
preffbrs.  Nature,  time,  and  found  policy 
mud  co-operate  with  each  other  to  pro- 
duce fuch  a  change  :  if  either  be  ne- 
glected, the  work  will  be  incomplete,  dan- 
gerous, and  not  improbably  deflruclive. 

The  plan  therefore  which  I  -would  pre- 
fuiTie  to  propofe  for  the  consideration  of  my 


(     91     ). 

Countrymen  is  fuch,  as  the  number  of 
flaves,  the  difference  of  their  nature,  and 
habits,  and  the  flate  of  agriculture,  among 
us,  might  render  it  expedient,  rather  than 
deferable  to  adopt :  and  would  partake  part- 
ly of  that  propofed  by  Mr.  JefFerfon,  and 
adopted  in  other  ftates  ;  and  partly  of  fuch 
cautionary  refcriftions,  as  a  due  regard 
to  fituation  and  circumftances,  and  even 
to  general  prejudices,  might  recommend 
to  thofe,  who  engage  in  fo  arduous,  and 
perhaps  unprecedented  an  undertaking. 

1.  Let  every  female  born  after  the  r.- 
doption  of  the  plan  be  free,  and  tranfmit 
freedom  to  all  her  defcendants,  both  male, 
and  female. 

2.  As  a  compenfation  to  thofe  perfons, 
in.  whofe  families  fuch  females,  or  their 
defcendants  may  be  born,  for  the  expencc 
and  trouble  of  their  maintenance  during 
infancy,  let  them  ferve  fuch  perfons  un- 
til   the  age   of  twenty-eight  years  :    let 
them  then  receive  twenty  dollars  in  mo- 
ney, two  fuits  of  clothes,  fuited  to  the 
feafon,   a  hat,   a  pair  of  fhoes,   and  two 
blankets,     If  thefe  things  be  not  volunta- 
rily done,   let  the  county  courts  enforce 
the  performance,  upon  complaint. 

3  4  Let  all  Negroe  children  be  regiftered 
with  the  clerk  of  the  county  or  corpora-* 

M  2 


(     9-      ) 

fion  cou^t,  where  bcr-n,  within  one-monfch> 
after  their  birth  :  let  the- pesfon-  in  whole- 
family  they  are  born  take 'a-  copy  of  the 
rcgiiler,  and  deliver  it  to  the  mother,  or 
if  flie  die  to  the  child;,  before  it  is  of  the 
age  of  twenty-ore  years.  Let  any  Negroe 
claiming. to  be.  free,  and :  above  the  age  of 
puberty,  be  coniidered !  as  of  the  age  of 
twenty-eight  years,  if  he -or  file  be  not  re- 
giftered,  as  required. 

4.  Leb all-Rich  Negroe  fervr,nts  be  put 
on  the  fame  footing  as  white  fervants  and 
apprentices   now  are,   in  refpecl  to  food, 
raiment,   correction,   and  the   alignment 
of  their  fervice- from  one  to  another. 

5.  Let  the    children  of  Negroes  and 
mulattoes,    born  in  the  families  of  their 
parents,  be  bound  to  fer vice  by- the  over- 
feers  of  the  poor,  until  they  (hall  attain 
the  age   of  twenty-one   years.— Let   all- 
above  that  age,  who  are  net  houfekeepers-,- 
nor  have  voluntarily  bound  ihemfelves  to 
fervice  for  a  year  before  the  nrfr  day  of 
February  annually,    be    then  bound  for 
the  remainder  of  the  year  by  the  overfeers 
of  the  poor.      Let  the  overfeers   of  the 
poor  receive    fifteen  per    cent,  of  their 
wages,  from  the  perfon  hiring  them?  as 
a'  compenfation    for  their  trouble,     and 
ten  per  cent,  per  annum  out  of  the  wa- 


(     9?     ) 

of  fuch    as  tliey  may  bind  appren- 
tices. 

6.  If  at  the  age  of  twenty-feven  yearsv 
the  matter  of  a  Negroe  or  mulattoe  fer- 
v-ant   be    unwilling  to  pay  his  freedom* 
dues,  above  mentioned,  at  the  expiration 
of  the  fucceeding  year,  let  him  bring  him 
into  the  county  court,   clad  and  furnimed 
with  necelTaries  as^befbre  directed,  and  pay 
into  court  five  dollars,  for  the  ufe  of  tiiey 
fervant,  and  thereupon  let  the  court  di- 
rect him  to  be  hired  by  the  overfeers  of 
the  poor   for  the  fucceeding  year,,  in  the 
manner-  before  directed. 

7 .  Let  noNegroe  or.niulat.toe.be  capable 
of  taking,  .holding,  or  exercifing,  any  pub- 
lic office,  freehold,  franchife  or  privilege, 
or  any  eftate  in  lands  or  tenements,  .other, 
than   a   leafe   not  exceeding  twenty-one 
years-.—- Nor  of  keeping,  or  bearing  arms, 
frjunlefs   authorifed  fo  to  do  by  fome 
act  of  the  general  afTembly,  whofe  dura- 
tion mall  be  limitted  to  three  years.    Nor 
of  contracting  matrimony  with  any  other 
than  a  Negroe  or  mulattoe  ;  nor  be  an  at- 
torney ;  nor  be  a  juror  ;  nor  a  witnefs  in 
any  court  of  judicature,  except   agaimt, 

(c)  See  Spirit  of  Laws,    12^-1  £. 1.    Black 

Cora.  417. 


(    94    ) 

or  between  Negroes  and  mill  attics.  Norx 
be  an  executor  or  admin  iftrator  ;  nor  ca- 
pable of  making  any  will  or  teftament ; 
nor  maintain  any  real  aclion  ;  nor  be  a 
truft.ee  of  lands  or  tenements  himfelf,  nor 
any  other  perfon  to  be  a  truftee  to  him  or 
to  his  ufe. 

8.  Let  all  perfons  born  after  the  patting 
of  the  act,  be  confidered  as  entitled  to  the 
fame  mode  of  trial  in  criminal  cafes,  as 
free  Negroes  and  mulattoes  are  now  en- 
titled to. 

The  reftriclions  in  this  place  may  ap- 
pear to  favour  ftrongly  of  prejudice  : 
whoever  propofes  any  plan  for  the  abo- 
lition of  flavery,  will  find  that  he  muft 
either  encounter,  or  accommodate  him- 
felf  to  prejudice. — I  have  preferred  the 
latter ;  not  that  I  pretend  to  be  wholly 
exempt  from  it,  but  that  I  might  avoid 
as  many  obstacles  as  poilible  to  the  com- 
pletion cffo  defirable  a  work,  as  the  abo- 
lition of  flavery.  Though  I  am  oppofed 
to  the  banimtnent  of  the  Negroes,  I  wi(h 
not  to  encourage  their  future  refidence 
among  us.  By  denying  them  the  mod 
valuable  privileges  which  civil  govern- 
ment affords,  I  wimed  to  render  it  their 
inclination  and  their  intercft  to  feek  thofe 
privileges  in  fome  other  climate.  There 


(    95    ) 

is  an  immenfe  unfettled  territory  on  .this, 
continent  (d)  more  congenial  to  their 
natural  constitutions  than  ours,  where 
they  may  perhaps  be  received  upon  more 
favourable  terms  than  we  can  permit 
them  to  remain  with  us .  Emigrating  in  „ 
fmall  numbers,  they  will  be  able  to  effeft 
fettlements  more  Cafily  than  in  large  num- 
bers ;  and  without  the  expence  or  danger 
of  numerous  colonies.  By  releasing  them 
from  the  yoke  of  bondage,  and  enabling 
them  to  feck  happiiiefs  \vlierev  er  they  can 
hope  to  find  it,  we  fiirely  confer  a  bene- 
fit, which  no  one  can  fufRciently  apprer 
ciate,  who  has  not  tafled  of  the  bitter 
curfe  of  compulfory  fervitude,  By  ex- 
cludidg  them  from  offices,  the  ieeds  of 
ambition  would  be  buried  too  deep,  ever 
to  germinate  :  by  difarming  them,  W9 
may  calm  our  apprehenfions  of  their  re- 
fentments  arifingfrom  pad  fulferings  ;  by 

(d)  The  immenfe  territory  of  Lomfinm,  which  ex- 
tends as  far  fouth  as  the  lat.  25°  and  the  two  Floridas, 
would  probably  afford  a  ready  afylum  for  fuch  as  might 
choofe  to  become  Spanifli  fubje&s.  How  far  their  po- 
litical rights  might  be  enlarged  in  thefe  countries,  is, 
however  queftionable  :  but  the  climate  is  undoubtedly 
more  favourable  to  the  African  conftitution  than  ours, 
and  from  this  caufe,  it  is  not  improbable  that  emigra- 
tions from  thefe  ftates  would  in  time  be  very  corJHers- 
He, 


incapacitating  them  from  holding  laads,, 
we  (lion Id  add  one  induce!m€nt  more  to 
emigration-,  and  cfre&ually  remo\re  the 
foundation  fcf  ambition,  and  party-ftrug- 
gles.  Their  perfbnal  rights,  and  their 
property,  though  limited,  would  whilft 
they  remain  among  us  be  under  the  pro- 
te&ion  of  the  laws  ;  and  their  condition 
not  at  all  inferior  to  that  of  the  labouring 
poor  in  mod  other  countries.  Under  fuch 
an  arrangement  we  might  reafonably  hope, 
that  time  would  either  remove  from  us  a 
race  of  men,  whom  we  wim  not  to  incor- 
porate with  us,  or  obliterate  thcfe  preju- 
dices, which  now  form  an  obftacle  to  fuch 
incorporation. 

But  it  is  not  from  the  want  of  liberality 
to  the  emancipated  race  of  blacks  that  I 
apprehend  the  moft  ferious  objeclibhs  to 
the  plan  I  have  ventured  to  fuggeft.— 
Thofe  flave  holders  (whofe  numbers  I 
trull  are  few)  who  have  been  in  the  habit 
of  conudering  their  fellow  creatures  as 
no  more  than  cattle,  and  the  reft  of  the 
brute  creation,  will  exclaim  that  they  are 
to  be  deprived  of  their  property,  with- 
out conipenfation.  Men  who  will  fliut 
their  ears  againft  this  moral  truth,  that  all 
men  are  by  nature  free,  and  equal,  will 
not  even  be  convinced  that  they  do  not 


(     97     ) 

poflefs  a  property  in  an  unborn  child :  they* 
will  not  diftinguifh  between  allowing  to 
unborn  generations  the  abiblute  and  una- 
lienable  rights  of  human  nature,  and  tak- 
ing away  that  which  they  now  poffefs  ; 
they  will  fhut  their   ears   againfl  truth, 
fhould  you  tell  them,  the  lofs  of  the  mo- 
ther's  labour   for  nine  months,  and  the 
maintenance  of  a   child   for  a  dozen   or 
fourteen  years,   is  amply  cornpenfated  by 
the  fervices  of  that    child  for  as   many 
years  more,  as  he  has  been  an  expence  to 
them.     But  if  the  voice  of  reafon,  jufticc 
and  humanity  be  not  ftified  by  fordid  ava- 
.rice,  or   unfeeling  tyranny,  it  would  be 
eafy  to  convince  even  thofe  who  have  en- 
tertained Rich  erroneous  notions,  that  the 
right  of  one  man  over  another  is  neither 
founded  in  nature,  nor  in  found  policy. 
That  it  cannot  extend  to  thofe  not  in  be- 
ing ;  that  no  man  can  in  reality  be  deprived 
of  what  he  doth  not  poffefs :  that  fourteen 
years  labour  by  a  young  perfon  in  the 
prime  of  life,   is   an  ample   compenfation 
for  a  few  months  of  labour  loft   by  the 
mother,    and  for  the  maintenance  of  a 
child,   in  that  coarfe  homely  manner  that 
Negroes  are  brought  up  :  And  laftly,  that 
a  ftate  of  {lav cry  is  not  only  perfectly  in- 
compatible with  the  principles  of  govern- 
N 


(     98     ) 

ment,  but  with  the  fafe.ty  and  fecurity  of 
their  mailers.  HHtory  evinces  this.  At 
this  moment  we  have  the  moft  awful  de- 
monflratlons  of  it.  Shall  we  then  neglect 
a  duty,  which  every  confederation,  moral, 
religious,  political,  orj'elfi/??, recommends. 
Thofe  who  wifh  to  poftpone  the  meafure, 
do  not  reflect  that  every  day  renders  the 
taik  more  arduous  to  be  performed.  We 
have  now  300,000  Haves  among  us.  Thirty 
years  hence  we  fhall  have  double  the  num- 
ber. In  lixty  years  we  (hall  have  i ,  200,000 . 
And  in  lefs  than  another  century  from  this 
clay,  even  that  enormous  number  will  be 
doubled.  Milo  acquired  ftrejigth  enough 
to  carry  an  ox,  by  beginning  with  the  ox 
while  he  was  yet  a  calf.  If  we  complain 
that  the  calf  is  too  heavy  for  our  fhoulders, 
what  will  not  the  ox  be  ? 

To  fuch  as  apprehend  danger  to  our 
agricultural  intereft,  and  the  depriving 
the  families  of  thofe  whofe  principal  reli- 
ance is  upon  their  flaves,  of  fupport,  it 
will  be  proper  to  fubrnit  a  view  of  the 
gradual  operation,  and  elFefts  of  this 
plan.  They  will  no  doubt  be  furprizcd 
to  hear,  that  whenever  it  is  adopted,  the 
number  of  fiaves  will  not  be  diminiflied 
for  forty  years  after  it  takes  place ;  that 
it  will  even  encreafe  for  thirty  years  •  that 


(     99     ) 

at  the  diftance  of  fixty  years,  there  will 
be  one-third  of  the  number  at  its  firft  com- 
mencement :  that  it  will  require  above  a 
century  to  complete  it ;  and  that  the  num- 
ber of  blacks  under  twenty-eight,  and  con- 
fequently  bound  to  fervice,  in  the  families 
they  are  born  in,  will  always  be  at  leafh 
as  great,  as  the  prefent  number  of  Haves. 
Theie  circumftances  I  trufl  will  remove 
many  objections,  and  that  they  are  truly 
flated  will  appear  upon  enquiry  .(e)  It 

(e)  As  it  may  not  be  unacceptable  to  fome  renders 
to  obferve  the  operation  of  this  plan,  I  (hall  fubjoin 
the  following  ftatement : 

PRELIMINARY    REMARKS. 

1.  The   number  of  Haves  in  Virginia  by   the   late 
cenfus  being  found  to  be  292,427,  they  may  now,  in 
round  numbers  be  eflimated  at  300,000 

2.  Let  it  be  fuppofed  that  the  males  and 
females  are    nearly  or  altogether   equal  in 
number. 

3.  According  to  Dr.  Franklin,  the  people 
of  America  double  their  numbers  in  about 
twenty-eight  years  ;  and  according  to  Mr. 
JefFerfon,  the  negroes  increafe  as  faft  as  the 
whites,  they  will  therefore  double,  at  leaft 
every  thirty  years. 

4.  Let  it  be  fuppofed  that  in  thirty  years 
one  half  of  the  prefent  race  of  negroes  will 
be  extinct. 

5.  Let  it  be  fuppofed  that  in  forty-five 
years  there  will  not  remain  more  than  one- 
fifth  of  the  prefent  race  alive. 

N    2 


will  further  appear,  that  females  only 
will  arrive  at  the  age  -of  emancipation 
within  the  firft  forty-five  years  ;  all  the 
males  during  that  period,  continuing  ei^ 
ther  in  ilavery,  or  bound  to  fervice  till 

6-  Let  it  be  likewife  fuppofed,  that  in 
fixty  years  the  whole  of  the  prefent  race  will 
be  extinct. 

7.  For  concifenefs  fake,  let  the  prefent 
race  be  called  anis-nati,  thofe  born  after  the 
adoption  of  the  plan,  poft-nati. 

FROM    HENCE    IT    WILL    FOLLOW, 

1.  That  the  prefect  number  of  flaves  being  300,00^ 

2.  In    thiity    years    their  numbers  will 
amount  to  -  -  -  600,000 

3.  But  at  that  period  as  one  half  of  them 
will  be   ex  tin  ft,   (rern.   4.)    their   numbers 
will  ftand  thus : 

Ante-nati,      -       1 50,000 
Foft-nati,       -      450,000 

600,000 

4.  The  mean    increafe   of  the   poft-nati 
for  the  next  thirty  years  will   therefore  be, 
*Jf§°°,  annually,  or  15,000 

5.  If  one  half  of  thefe  be  males,  who  are 
Hill  to   remain  flaves,  there  will  in  the  firft 

iixteen  years,    be  born  i2O>oc5® 

6.  After  the  firft  fixteen  ye  are,  the  poft- 
mti  females  will  begin  to  breed  ;  the  propor- 
tion of  males    born    to   flavery  in  the  next 
twelve  years  may  bc'eftirnated  at  one-fcurth 
of  the  whole    number  born   after  the  com- 
mencement of  that  period.     Their  number 

will  be  -  -  -  -  -  52,00^ 


the  age  of  twenty-eight  years.  The  earth 
cannot  want  cultivators,  whilfh  our  po-* 
pulation  increafes  as  at  prefent.,  and  three- 
fourths  of  thofe  employed  therein  are  held 
to  fervice,  and  the  remainder  compella- 

7.  The  number  of  Jlaiies    living  in  Vir- 
ginia at  the  end  of    thirty  years  from  the 
adoption    of  the    plan,    will   be,    ante-nati 
(prop.   3.)  -  150,000 

Poft-nati  males  born  in  the  firH 

16  years,  120,000 

Poft-nati  mules  born  in  the  lad 

12  years,  52,500 

322,500 

8.  The  number  of  negroes   at   the  fame 
rime  will  Hand  thus  : 

Slaves,       -  322,500 

Poft-nati  free  born,     277,500 

6oo,coo 

9.  After  twenty-eight  years  from  the  firft 
adoption,  this  plan  of  gradual  emancipation 
will  firft  begin  to  manifeft  its  effedls,  by  the 
complete  emancipation  of  one  twenty-eighth 
part  of  the  poft-nati  free  born  during  that 
period    each   fucceeding  year,   for  twenty- 
eight  years  more ;  their  numbers   will  be, 
*7^0°»  or  9,910 
Thefe  will  be  all  females. 

jo.  It  being  admitted  that  the  negroes 
double  every  thirty  years,  the  fuppofition 
that  in  forty-five  years,  their  numbers  will 
be  half  as  many  more  as  in  thirty,  will  not 
be  very  erroneous,  if  fo,  the  whole  race  of 
then*  at  that  period  will  bs  . 


(       102       ) 

ble  to  labour.  For  we  iiraf!  not  lofe  fight 
of  this  important  confi deration,  that  thefe 
people  mufi  be  bound  to  labour,  if  they 

11.  Their  numbers  will  Hand  thus  : 

Ante-nati,       -        60,000 
Pcft-nati,       -       840,000 

—  900,000 

12.  After  twer.ty-eight  years  are  pad,  the 
number  of  Oaves  born  muft  continually  di- 
miniih.     Suppcfe  their  number  born  in -the 
laft  17  years,  to-be   one-fourth  as-  many  as 
thofe  bcrn  in  the  preceding   twelve  years, 

they  will  be  5  2-J;00,  or  *3»*25 

13.  The    Haves  in  Virginia  in  forty-five 
years  will  then  be,  ante-nati,        -        60,000 

Poft-nati  males  born  in  the  firft 

fixteen  years,  120,000 

Ditto,  born  in  the  next  twelve 

years,  52 ,500 

Ditto,  born   in  the  lail  fcven- 

teen  years,  -       13,125 

24-5,625 

At  this  period  the  err.cincipciticn  of  males 
will  begin. 

14.  But  after  twenty, eight    years  it  has 
been    mewn  that  9,910  negroes  will  annu- 
ally arrive  at  the  age  of  eir,?.ncipation,  their 

whole  number  in  forty -five  years  will  be  168,470 

15    The  flate  of  the  negroes  at  the  end  of 
45  years,  will  then  be,  flaves,     -      24556:5' 
Poft-nati  fully  emancipated  (fe- 
males),                                        1685470 
Pcft-nati  not  cir.ar.cipated,     -     485,905 
,   [  — > —  900,000 


do  not  voluntarily  engage  therein.  Their 
faculties  are  at  prelent  only  calculated  for 
that  object  ;  if  they  be  not  employed 

1  6.  In  fixty  years  the  whole  number  of 
negroes  will  be  1,200,000 

17.  At  that  period  the  whole  cf  the  prc- 
fent  race  will  be  extin&  ;  and  we  may  alfj 
infer  that  one  half  of  thofe  bcrn  in  '„::::  f;.  .'t 
thirty  years  will  be  alfo  exti.idl  ;  the  r.unibcr 
of  flaves  'born  in  that  period  has  been  (liuwn, 
(prop.  7.)  to  be  1  72,  500,  the  number  of  thcfc 
then  living  will  be  2  7  7-5  °°,  or  ,  -  86,250 

1  8.  One  half  of  the  poft-nati  free  born, 
during  that  period,  being  now  fully  emanci- 
pated, may  be  iikewife  prefuined  to  be  e::- 
tinct  ;  their  numbers  (prep.  8.)  will-  be, 
I7V00,  or  138,750 

19.  The  fcate  of  the  negroes  at  the  end 
of  fixty  years,  will  therefore  be  : 

Slaves    born    during    the    iirit 

thirty  years,  -  .86,250 

Ditto  born  after  that  period,     -      13,  125 

Poft-nati  fully  emancipated,    -     138,750 

Pofl-nati  under  28  years  of  age,    96  1  ,8  75 


20.  At  the  end  of  ninety  years  the  nu.n- 
ber  of  negroes  will  be  ...  2,4.00,000 

2  1  .  Of  this  number,  thofe  only  born  af- 
ter the  firft  thirty  years,  being  fuppofjd  t"> 
be  living,  the  number  of  {laves  (prup«  12  ) 
will  then  be  reduced  to  -  I5»I25 

22.  And  as  the  !a£  ir»cn'u"oncu  jaum'jfr  oC 
{1:  ves  are  fupnofea  to  be  born  \v::>.::i  f:  i 
five  years,  their  *.vho!c  nu:r,b?r  \viil  '  .       i' 


therein  they  will  become  drones  of  the 
worft  defcription.  In  abfolving  them 
from  the  yoke  of  fiavery,  we  muft  not 
forget  the  interefh  of  the  fociety.  Thofe 
interefls  require  the  exertions  of  every 
individual  in  fome  mode  or  other  ;  and 
thofe  who  have  not  wherewith  to  fupport 
themfelves  honeftly  without  corporal  la- 
bour, whatever  be  their  complexion, 
ought  to  be  compelled  to  labour.  This 
is  the  cafe  in  England,  where  domeftic 
flavery  has  long  been  unknown .  It  muft 
alfo  be  the  cafe  in  every  well  ordered  fo- 
ciety ;  and  where  the  numbers  of  perfons 
without  property  increafe,  there  the  co- 
ertion  of  the  laws  becomes  more  immedi- 
ately requifite.  The  propofed  plan  would 
ncceffarily  have  this  effecl,  and  therefore 
ought  to  be  accompanied  with  fuch  a  re- 
gulation. Though  the  rigours  of  our  po- 
lice in  refpect  to  this"  unhappy  race  ought 

in  fifteen  years  more,  that  is,  in  one  hundred 
andj/SW  years  from  the  firft  adoption  of  the 
plan. 

23.  By  prop.  19.  it  appears,  that  out  of 
1,200,000    negroes,    there    will    then    be 
961,875  under  the  age  of  twenty-eight  years, 
the  period  of  emancipation. 

24.  We  may  therefore  conclude,  that  from 
two-thirds  to  three-fourths  of  the  whole  num- 
ber of  blacks  will  always  be  liable  to  fervic£; 


(     "5    ) 

to  be  foftened,  yet,  its  regularity,    and 
punctual  adminiHration  ilionld  be  increal- 
ed,  rather  than  relaxed.    If  we  doubt  the 
propriety  of  fiich   meafiircs,    what  miifl 
we  think  of  the  fitiTstkm  of  our  country, 
when  inflead  of  300,000,  we  (hall  have 
more  than  two  millions  of  SLAVES  among 
us  ?    This  mufe  happen  within  a  CENTURY, 
if  we  do   not  fet  about  the  abolition  of 
flavery.     Will  not  our  pofterity  curfe  the 
days  of  their  nativity  with  all  the  anguilh 
of  Job  ?  Will  they  not  execrate  the  me- 
mory of  thofc  anceftors,  who,  having  it 
in  their  power  to  avert  evil,  have,  like 
their  mil  parents^  entailed  a  carfe  upon  all 
future  generations  ?  We  know  that  the 
rigour  of  the  laws  reflecting  fiaves  una- 
voidably mull  increafe  with  their  num- 
bers :  What   a   blood-ftained   code   maft 
that  be  which  is  calculated  for  the  reflraint 
of  millions  held  in  bondage  1   Such  muft 
our    unhappy    country   exhibit    within  a 
century,  unlefs  we  are  both  wife  and  juft 
enough  to  avert  from  poRerity  the  cala- 
mity and  reproach,  which  are  otherwife 
unavoidable. 

I  am  not  vain  enough  to  prefume  the 

plan  I  have  fuggeiled  entirely  free  from 

objection  ;    nor  that  in  offering  my  own 

ideas  on  the  iiibjedl,  I  have  been  more  for- 

O 


e  than  others :  but  frotn  the  commu- 
nication of  fentinient  between  thofe  \yho 
lament  the  evil,  it  is  poiTible  -that  an  ef- 
fe&ual  remedy  may  at  length  be  difco- 
y  erccl .  Whenever  that  happens  the  golden 
age  of  our  country  will  begin.  Till  then, 

Non  hafpes  ab  hofpite  tutus, 

2\on  Ilcras  a  Fz™'j.l::  :  frctrxm  czcque  gratia  rara. 


r^r-*    T*T    -ipi          -«r-t     **  -f     ^v 

T  11  E    ±^  IM  D. 


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